An infant is a very young baby, usually under one year old. The word can also be used more generally for a child in the earliest stage of life.
It comes from Latin “infans,” meaning “unable to speak,” from “in-” (not) and “fari” (to speak). The original idea focused on the child’s lack of speech rather than age.
Infant literally means “not speaking,” which shows how important language is to how we see human development. The moment babies start to talk, we stop calling them infants, even if they’re still tiny. The word quietly measures childhood by voice, not just by months.
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