🇺🇸
/ˈbeɪ.bi/
🇺🇸
/ˈbeɪ.bi/
🇬🇧
/ˈbeɪ.bi/
🇬🇧
/ˈbeɪ.bi/
Plural
babies
Past Tense
babbied
Past Participle
babbied
Gerund
babying
3rd Person
babies
Baby primarily refers to a very young human, especially from birth to about one year old — full of curiosity, dependence, and adorable chaos. It can also act as an affectionate term for a loved one ('You're my baby!'), describe something small or beginner-level ('baby version'), or even function as a verb meaning to treat someone overprotectively ('Don’t baby him — he can tie his shoes!').
Our neighbor just welcomed a beautiful baby girl last week.
She calls her boyfriend 'baby' even after ten years together.
This software has a baby mode designed for first-time users.
He’s been babying his injured knee all month instead of doing physical therapy.
The chef prepared a special baby menu with soft, organic ingredients.
baby
Comes from Middle English 'babie', likely reduplicative (echoic) origin imitating infant vocalizations; no deeper Indo-European root — it is a nursery word formed from repeated syllables like 'ba-ba'. Examples include baby, babble, baba (in many languages), babushka (via Slavic, but phonetically resonant). Core meaning: a natural, universal sound associated with early human vocalization and infancy.