cild

Cild is a historical term used in the study of the English language to denote the Old English word for a young person. It appears in surviving Anglo-Saxon writings as a common noun meaning a child or youth. By the Middle English period, the spelling and pronunciation of the word shifted toward the modern form “child,” and cild largely ceased to be used in everyday English.

Origin and cognates: Cild is the Old English form from which the modern English word child ultimately derives. It has related forms in other West Germanic languages, though spellings and pronunciations varied by dialect. The transition from cild to child reflects broader phonological and orthographic changes that occurred as English moved from Old to Middle English.

Modern usage: Today, cild survives primarily in linguistic and historical contexts, appearing in dictionaries, glossaries, and discussions of the development of English vocabulary. In ordinary speech and writing, the word is no longer used except when describing historical language, etymology, or the history of English orthography.