CHILDHOOD

n. juvenility, stage of being a child, youth

Childhood (being a child) is a broad term usually applied to the phase of development in humans between infancy and adulthood.
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Noun
1. the time of person's life when they are a child
(hypernym) time of life
(hyponym) girlhood, maidenhood, maidhood
(part-meronym) anal stage, anal phase
2. the state of a child between infancy and adolescence
(synonym) puerility
(hypernym) immaturity, immatureness

(n.)
The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty.
  

(n.)
The commencement; the first period.
  

(n.)
Children, taken collectively.
  

er3 bin4 si1 mo2
Ear to ear and temple to temple.
Said of children (usually a boy and a girl) that have (or had) a close childhood friendship.