English
kid
see also: KID
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /kɪd/
  • (America, chiefly Southern and AAVE) IPA: /kʰɪə̯d/
Etymology 1

From Middle English kide, from Old Norse kið, from Proto-Germanic *kidją, *kittīną ("goatling, kid"), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰaydn-, *ǵʰaydn- ("goat") or Proto-Indo-European *gidʰ-.

Sense of child since 1590s as cant, since 1840s in informal use.

Noun

kid

  1. A young goat.
    He treated the oxen like they didn't exist, but he treated the goat kid like a puppy.
    • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC ↗, page 249 ↗:
      I went indeed intending to kill a Kid out of my own Flock, and bring him home and dreſs it. But as I was going, I ſaw a She Goat lying down in the Shade, and two young Kids ſitting by her, […]
  2. (uncountable) Kidskin.
    Synonyms: kid leather
    • 1912, Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs: Letter 3:
      I have three pairs of kid gloves. I've had kid mittens before from the Christmas tree, but never real kid gloves with five fingers.
  3. (uncountable) The meat of a young goat.
    Synonyms: cabrito
    • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC ↗, pages 85–86 ↗:
      So saying, he gathered together, and brought to a flame, the decaying brands which lay scattered on the ample hearth; took from the larger board a mess of pottage and seethed kid, placed it upon the small table at which he had himself supped, and without waiting the Jew's thanks, went to the other side of the hall;—[…].
  4. A young antelope.
  5. (informal) A child (usually), teenager, or young adult; a juvenile.
    Synonyms: Thesaurus:child
    She's a kid. It's normal for her to have imaginary friends.
    • 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Wherein Oliver Is Delivered over to Mr. William Sikes”, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC ↗, page 12 ↗:
      “So you’ve got the kid,” said Sikes, when they had all reached the room: closing the door as he spoke. ¶ “Yes, here he is,” replied Nancy. ¶ “Did he come quiet?” inquired Sikes. ¶ “Like a lamb,” rejoined Nancy.
    • 1897 March 13 – June 19, Richard Marsh [pseudonym; Richard Bernard Heldmann], “What the Tidings Were”, in The Beetle (The Adelphi Library; 4), London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, […], published 1920, →OCLC ↗, book IV (In Pursuit), page 269 ↗:
      I said, “I’ll send the first sane soul I meet to keep you company.” As luck would have it, I never met one,—only kids, and a baker, who wouldn’t leave his cart, or take it with him either.
    • 1955, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, The Magician's Nephew, London: The Bodley Head, →OCLC ↗:
      "I should never dream of calling a kid like you a woman," said Digory loftily.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “The Beanspiller”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC ↗, page 186 ↗:
      ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You’re not dull enough! […] What about the kid’s clothes? I don’t suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn’t you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’
    • 2007 July 5, Barack Obama, Remarks of Senator Barack Obama to the National Education Association Annual Meeting:
      Our kids are why all of you are in this room today. Our kids are why you wake up wondering how you'll make a difference and go to bed thinking about tomorrow's lesson plan. Our kids are why you walk into that classroom every day even when you're not getting the support, or the pay, or the respect that you deserve - because you believe that every child should have a chance to succeed; that every child can be taught.
  6. (informal) A person whose childhood took place in a particular time period or area.
    Only '90s kids will remember this toy.
    He's been living in Los Angeles for years now, but he's a Florida kid.
  7. (informal) One's son or daughter, regardless of age.
    He was their youngest kid.
  8. (in the vocative) Used as a form of address for a child, teenager or young adult.
    No, kid, you didn't do anything wrong; they did!
  9. (colloquial) An inexperienced person or one in a junior position.
    • 2007 June 3, Eben Moglen, speech, Freeing the Mind: Free Software and the end of proprietary culture,
      I remember as a kid lawyer working at IBM in the summer of 1983, when a large insurance company in Hartford, Connecticut, for the first time asked to buy 12000 IBM PCs in a single order.
  10. (dated) A deception; an act of kidding somebody.
  11. (nautical) A small wooden mess tub in which sailors received their food.
    • 1830, James Fenimore Cooper, The Water-witch, Or, The Skimmer of the Seas:
      peaceable, well-disposed chaps as ever eat duff (dough) out of a kid
    • 1847 March 29, Herman Melville, “Reception from the Frenchman”, in Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC ↗, page 109 ↗:
      We fasted till night, when one of the boys came along with a couple of "kids" containing a thin, saffron-coloured fluid, with oily particles floating on top. The young wag told us this was soup: it turned out to be nothing more than oleaginous warm water.
Translations Translations Translations Verb

kid (kids, present participle kidding; simple past and past participle kidded)

  1. (transitive, colloquial) To make a fool of (someone).
  2. (transitive, colloquial) To dupe or deceive (someone).
  3. (transitive, colloquial) To make a joke with (someone).
  4. (intransitive) Of a goat: to give birth.
  5. (intransitive, colloquial) To joke.
    You're kidding!
    Only kidding!
Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

Compare Welsh cidysen.

Noun

kid (plural kids)

  1. A fagot; a bundle of heath and furze.
KID
Etymology

Abbreviation

Proper noun
  1. (chess) Initialism of King's Indian Defence


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