infant

An infant is a very young child, especially in the first year of life. Think of tiny hands, soft skin, and total dependence on adults for care. You will often hear the word in medical, parenting, and official contexts. For example, doctors talk about infant growth, and airlines may have special rules for infants traveling with adults. In everyday speech, people often say "baby" instead, but "infant" sounds a little more formal.

The word "infant" describes a human child at the very beginning of life, usually from birth to about one year old. It points to a stage of complete dependence, fast growth, and major early development. Although people often use it like "baby," "infant" is more common in formal or technical settings, such as medicine, childcare, research, and law.

You will frequently see it in phrases like "infant care," "infant development," "infant formula," and "infant mortality." In these cases, the word helps make the meaning exact and age-specific. In ordinary conversation, though, many people simply say "baby." If a child is older and starting to walk, people usually switch to words like "toddler" rather than "infant."

There is also an older legal use in which "infant" can mean a person under the age of majority, but that sense is uncommon in everyday modern English. Most of the time, when people use the word now, they simply mean a very young baby in the earliest part of life. The word carries a sense of smallness, vulnerability, and the need for gentle care.