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childing

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childing¹

  • /ˈt͡ʃaɪldɪŋ/ US, UK

Where it comes from

From Middle English childynge, childinge [and other forms], from childen (“to give birth to a child”) + -ynge, -ynge (suffix forming gerunds from verbs). Equivalent to child + -ing.

noun

  1. archaic, gerund, uncountable gerund of child: the act or process of childbearing or childbirth. This Conſtantia was fiftie yeares of age before ſhe was conceiued with him; whom the emperor Henrie the ſixth to auoide all doubt and ſurmiſe that of hir conception and childing might be thought, and to the perill of the empire inſue: cauſed his regall tent to be pitched abrode in place where euery

    Similar: delivery, parturition

childing²

  • /ˈt͡ʃaɪldɪŋ/ US, UK

Where it comes from

From late Middle English childynge (“pregnant”), from childen (“to give birth to a child”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming the present participles of verbs, which were often used as adjectives); equivalent to child (verb) + -ing (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having a specified characteristic, nature, or quality’, and forming the present participles of verbs).

adjective

  1. archaic, not comparable Able to bear children; fertile; also, pregnant, or in the process of childbirth, or having just given birth to a child. With fire and sword the country round / Was wasted far and wide, / And many a childing mother then, / And new-born baby died; / But things like that, you know, must be / At every famous victory.

    Similar: fecund, fruitful, in delivery, in labour, postnatal, postpartal, postpartum, post-partural · Opposite: barren, infertile

  2. archaic, not comparable Of a flowering plant: producing younger florets around an older flower. [page 323] Bellis minor hortenſis prolifera. Double double Daiſies or childing Daiſies. […] The chiefeſt variety conſiſteth in this, that is beareth many ſmall double flowers, ſtanding vpon very ſhort ſtalkes round about the middle flower, […] [page 324] The French call them Paſquettes, and Margueri
  3. figuratively, not comparable, obsolete Fruitful; productive. The Spring, the Sommer, / The childing Autumne, angry Winter change / Their wonted Liueries; and the mazed worlde, / By their increaſe, now knowes not which is which; […]

verb

  1. gerund, participle, present present participle and gerund of child

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"childing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/childing. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

childing. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/childing

Chicago

"childing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/childing.

BibTeX
@misc{childing_2026,
  title = {childing},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/childing},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}