Dictionary entry

Infancy

Webster's Dictionary 1913

In″fan‐cy (?), n. [L. infantia: cf. F. enfance. See Infant.]

1. The state or period of being an infant; the first part of life; early childhood.

The babe yet lies in smiling infancy. Milton.

Their love in early infancy began. Dryden.

2. The first age of anything; the beginning or early period of existence; as, the infancy of an art.

The infancy and the grandeur of Rome. Arbuthnot.

3. (Law) The state or condition of one under age, or under the age of twenty-one years; nonage; minority.