childs

Childs is not a standard plural form of child in modern English. A child refers to a young human being, typically one who has not yet reached adulthood. The standard plural is children.

In contemporary writing, encountering the form "childs" usually signals a misspelling, typographical error, or nonstandard usage. It may also appear in historical texts or as a surname. When used as a surname, Childs is capitalized as a proper noun, for example in family names or in references to individuals with that name.

Historically, the plural of child developed as an irregular form in English. The Old English word cild had a plural form that evolved into cildren, which later became children in Middle English and into the modern form. The standard plural did not become "childs," and the use of "childs" fell out of general acceptance as the language standardized.

The word child itself remains in common use to denote a young person, while child and its standard plural children appear across many domains, including education, law, and medicine. The form childs is rarely appropriate outside of a proper noun and should generally be avoided in standard prose.

See also: Children; Offspring; Minor; Family.