Definition of "childe" [childe]

• Archaic A child of noble birth. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "What Clinton phrases as a commonplace has not been located in midwifery treatises; Gouge, however, does employ the phrase "The drawing forth of a womans milke by her childe is a means to get and preserve a good stomach, which is a great preservative of good health" (Of Domesticall Duties, L12r)."
• "Even words that to me feel neutral in English are feminine, if they describe a person or an animal, like the use of "childe" instead of "child", "catte" instead of "cat"."
• "The "childe" is, in fact, lord Byron himself, who was only twenty-two when he began the poem, which was completed in seven years."