Definition

The early stage of life or development, especially for babies and young children.

Example

The technology is still in its infancy, and many improvements are expected in the future.

Conversation

I was reading about child development and found out that our brains grow so much in infancy.

That's really interesting! I didn’t know it was such a crucial time for us.

Yeah, it's amazing how those early years shape who we become later.

Absolutely! It makes me think about how important it is to support kids during their infancy.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Infancy is formed from "in-" (meaning not) and "fancy" (from Latin "fari", meaning to speak). The term originally referred to a stage of life where one is not yet able to speak, thus denoting the early period of a child's life.

Memory Tip

Think of a time when a child is 'not' ('in-') able to 'speak' ('fari') — that's why infancy refers to the early stage of life before speech.

Visually Confused Words