Child″hood (chīld″ho͝od), n. [AS. cildhād; cild child + -hād. See Child, and -hood.] 1. The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty.
I have walked before you from my childhood.
1. Sam. xii. 2.
2. Children, taken collectively.
The well-governed childhood of this realm.
Sir. W. Scott.
3. The commencement; the first period.
The childhood of our joy.
Shak.
Second childhood, the state of being feeble and incapable from old age.