[f. BABY sb. + -HOOD; cf. senses of manhood.] a. The period or condition of infancy. b. Babies collectively. c. Babyishness, childish folly.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa (1811), IV. 208. Had she not been known to be a female, they would not from babyhood have dressed her as such.
1860. Miss Yonge, Stokesley Secr., iii. (1880), 262. An affront to all babyhood.
1860. Gen. P. Thompson, Audi Alt., III. cxiv. 45. All the malevolence and babyhood of the country rush to display themselves.
