CHILD - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

CHILDAuthored

The Law Mind • 1449 words

Definition

CHILD carries two distinct legal meanings that operate in different areas of law and should not be conflated.

(1) Relational meaning — family law and succession. In domestic relations, descent, and distribution, "child" functions as the direct correlative of "parent." It means a son or daughter in relation to a father or mother — the first-degree lineal descendant. This is the operative meaning in inheritance disputes, intestacy statutes, custody proceedings, child support obligations, and parental rights terminations. The category has historically been subdivided by legitimacy (see Recognized Forms below), though modern statutes in most jurisdictions have substantially eliminated distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate children for purposes of inheritance and support.

(2) Protective meaning — negligence, criminal law, and regulatory statutes. In tort law, criminal law, and statutes designed to protect minors, "child" functions as the opposite of "adult." It means a young person who has not yet reached the age of majority or some other legislatively defined threshold. This meaning controls in child labor laws, juvenile court jurisdiction, child abuse statutes, age-of-consent provisions, and the attractive nuisance doctrine. The specific age cutoff varies by statute and jurisdiction.

These two meanings are not interchangeable. A statute protecting "children" from exploitation may define the term differently than a probate code determining who inherits as a decedent's "child."

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The Wiktionary entry for the capitalized form "Child" describes an alternative letter-case form often used when referring to God or an important child understood from context — not the ordinary sense. The standard lowercase entry captures the everyday meaning: a young human being, typically below the age of puberty; also, one's son or daughter regardless of age.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "A son or a daughter; a male or female descendant, in the first degree; the immediate progeny of human parents — in law, legitimate offspring." Webster's also extends the word to remote descendants and to figurative uses ("children of Israel").

The gap worth noting: ordinary language treats "child" as a straightforward age-based category — a young person. Legal usage splits the term in two directions: a relational category (parent-child relationship, which persists regardless of the child's age in many legal contexts) and an age-based protective category (where the precise cutoff is statutory, not intuitive). A forty-year-old can still be a "child" for intestacy purposes. A seventeen-year-old may or may not be a "child" under a specific criminal statute depending on how that statute defines the term. Researchers importing the common meaning into legal analysis will miss both nuances.

Recognized Forms

/SUBTYPES

Historical sources recognized several formally named subcategories, most of which remain relevant in older cases and some modern statutory contexts:

Legitimate child: A child born within lawful wedlock, or within a legally recognized period after the parents' marriage. Historically, the default category entitled to full inheritance rights.

Illegitimate child (bastard): A child born outside lawful wedlock. Historically subject to severe legal disabilities in inheritance and succession. Modern constitutional doctrine and most state statutes have substantially equalized the rights of non-marital children, though some distinctions persist, particularly in claims against a father's estate.

Natural child: In historical usage, a synonym for illegitimate child — a child born outside marriage but acknowledged by the father. Confusingly, "natural child" is sometimes used in modern statutes to mean a biological child as opposed to an adopted child. Context and jurisdiction determine which meaning applies.

Posthumous child: A child born after the death of the father. Most jurisdictions protect posthumous children's inheritance rights by statute. Advancing reproductive technology has extended this category to children conceived after a parent's death, generating significant unsettled law.

Adopted child: A child brought into the legal parent-child relationship by adoption rather than birth. Whether an adopted child qualifies as a "child" under a given instrument — a will, trust, or intestacy statute — depends on the applicable law at the time of the instrument's execution or the decedent's death.

Dependent or neglected child: A statutory category, not a biological one. Defined in juvenile court and child welfare statutes to identify children whose circumstances require state intervention. Bouvier's captures an early formulation: a child whose condition, due to acts or omissions of those responsible for it, makes removal from its surroundings necessary for the child's benefit and the good of society.

Why It Matters in Research

The dual meaning of "child" is one of the most common sources of interpretive error in legal research. When you encounter the term in a historical source, statute, or case, the first task is always to identify which meaning the authority is using — relational or protective — because the legal consequences are entirely different.

Age thresholds shift by statute, jurisdiction, and era. A researcher tracing child labor law, juvenile court jurisdiction, or age-of-consent provisions must identify the specific statutory definition operative at the time and place in question. There is no universal common-law age threshold for "child" in the protective sense. Eighteen is the modern default for many purposes, but it is not universal, and historical thresholds were often lower and inconsistently applied.

Legitimacy doctrine is a major research trap in historical sources. Pre-twentieth-century cases, treatises, and statutes treat the legitimate/illegitimate distinction as fundamental. A child described as a "bastard" or "natural child" in an 1880 case had dramatically different legal standing than a legitimate child. That distinction has been constitutionally curtailed — the Supreme Court addressed it across multiple decisions beginning in the late 1960s — but historical sources predate that shift entirely. Researchers working with pre-modern materials must hold both the historical rule and its subsequent erosion in mind simultaneously.

Statutory definitions override common-law meaning. When a statute defines "child" for its own purposes, that definition controls for everything within that statute's scope. A definition in a juvenile court act does not carry over to a probate proceeding. Corpus researchers should trace every statutory definition independently rather than importing definitions across subject-matter lines.

The corpus connections across the three encyclopedia entries reflect all three dimensions of the term: the protective meaning in child abuse and endangerment doctrine (criminal_46), the relational meaning in custody proceedings (family_72), and the financial obligation running from parent to child in support law (family_106). A research project touching any one of these areas will frequently implicate the others.

Historical Dictionary Support

Black's Law Dictionary (both editions) provides the most analytically useful historical treatment, explicitly flagging the two-meaning structure and assigning each to its proper legal domain. This framing — relational versus protective — remains accurate and is the right organizing principle for research today.

Bouvier's adds substantive content on the legitimacy subcategories and on the early statutory definition of "dependent or neglected child" in juvenile court law. Bouvier's treatment of posthumous children and the presumption of legitimacy for children born within lawful wedlock reflects doctrine that was settled by the nineteenth century and persists in modified form today.

Rapalje & Lawrence and Anderson's Dictionary of Law, as reflected in the available excerpts, do not provide direct treatment of the term "child" itself. Researchers relying on those sources for this term should default to Black's and Bouvier's.

What the historical dictionaries collectively miss: the constitutional transformation of illegitimacy doctrine in the latter half of the twentieth century; the emergence of children conceived through assisted reproduction, including posthumous conception; and the growing body of statutory law giving children procedural rights and, in some contexts, independent legal standing. Historical sources treat children primarily as objects of legal relationships rather than as holders of rights. Modern law has moved substantially in the other direction.

Jurisdictional Note

Age thresholds for the protective meaning of "child" vary by statute and subject matter. Juvenile court jurisdiction, age of majority, age of consent, and child labor thresholds are all set by state law and differ across jurisdictions. Federal statutes define "child" independently for their own purposes — the federal definition in child pornography law, for example, is not identical to any state's age of majority. Researchers should never assume a single age controls across statutory schemes.

CHILDmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

This word has two meanings in law: (1) In the law of the domestic rela- tions, and as to descent and distribution, it is used strictly as the correlative of "parent," and means a son or daughter considered as in relation with the father or mother. (2) In the law of negligence, and in laws for the protection of children, etc., it is used as the opposite of "adult," and means the young of the human species, (generally under the age of puberty,) without any reference to parent- age and without distinction of sex.

CHILDmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

The son or daughter, in rela- tion to the father or mother. Illegitimate children are bastards. Legi- timate children are those born in lawful wedlock. Natural children are illegitimate children. Posthumous children are those born after the death of the father. Children born in lawful wedlock, or within a competent time afterwards, are presumed to be the issue of the father, and follow his condition; but this presumption may be repelled by the proof of such facts tending to establish non-intercourse as may satisfy a jury to the contrary; Fieid, Inf. 40; 3 C. & P. 215, 427; 13 Ves. Ch. 58; 3 Paige, Ch. 139; 6 Binn. 286; 3 Dev. 548. See 3 Wall. 175. Those born out of law- ful wedlock follow the condition of the mother. The father is bound to maintain his children, and to educate them, and to protect them from injuries; Schoul. Dom. Rel. *315. The stat. 43 Eliz. c. 2, provided that the father and mother, grandfather and grandmother of a poor, impotent, etc. child should support it. The payment was assessed by the justices at the quarter sessions and was enforced by a levy on the goods of the offender, who in default was committed to prison. It is said that this act is in force in the U. S.; Schoul. Dom. Rel. 320. See 66 Pa. 19. But not after majority; 1 Ld. Raym. 699. Children are not liable at common law for the support of infirm and indigent parents; 16 Johns. 281; but generally they are bound by statutory provisions to maintain their par- ents who are in want, when they have sufficient ability to do so; 2 Kent 208; Pothier, Du Mariage, n. 384, 889; 2 Root 168; 5 Cow. 284; 88 Mich. 91. The child may justify an assault in defence of his parent; 3 Bla. Com. 3. The father, in general, is entitled to the custody of minor children; but, under certain circum- stances, the mother will be entitled to them when the father and mother have separ- ated; 5 Binn. 5203; but see 92 Cal 653. Where they are placed in the care of the husband, the court is not precluded from making an order giving the divorced wife access to them; [1891] Prob. 124. The courts of U. S. will, in their sound discre- tion, give the custody to the mother, or to a third party. Considerations as to the age and condition of, the child weigh with the court. The well-being of the child, rather than the supposed right of either parent, controls the question of custody; 10 Cent. L. J. 389; s. c. 12 R. I. 462; 21 Ν. J. Eq. 384; 28 S. W. (Ky.) 664; Field, Inf. 60. The mother of an illegitimate child has a right to its custody; 10 Q. B. D. 454. See FATHER; MOTHER. Children aro liable to the reasonable physical correction of their parents. See CORRECTION; AS SAULT; BATTERY. Dependent Child. A girl sixteen, whose mother is dead, living with her aunt in a comfortable home and attending school, is not a "dependent child" under a Juvenile Court Act. 156 Ky. 57, 160 S. W. 733. See COLORED CHILD DEPENDENT CHILD; DELINQUENT CHILD; NEGLECTED CHILD. The term children does not, ordinarily and properly speaking, comprehend grand children, or issue generally; yet sometimes that meaning is affixed to it in cases of ne cessity; 6 Co. 16; 14 Ves. 576; 17 How. 417; 36 Ala. 594; 104 Mass. 193. And it has been held to signify the same as issue, in cases where the testator, by using the terms chil- dren and issue indiscriminately, showed his intention to use the former term in the sense of issue, so as to entitle grand- children, etc., to take under it; 1 Ves. Sen. Ch. 196; 3 V. & B. 69; 7 Paige, Ch. 328; 1 Bail. Eq. 7; 4 Watts 82; 8 Greenl. Cruise, Dig. 213. See 25 Ga. 549; 88 Pa. 478. When legally construed, the term children is confined to legitimate children; 7 Ves. Ch. 458; see 23 Hun 260; 14 Ν. J. Eq. 159; and when the term is used in a will, there must be evidence to be col- lected from the will itself, or extrinsically, to show affirmatively that the testator in- tended that his illegitimate children should take, or they will not be included: 1 V. & Β. 422; 4 Kent 346, 414, 419; 6 H. L. 265; 84 N. Y. 516. See BASTARD. The civil code of Louisiana, art. 2522, n. 14, enacts that "under the name of chil- dren are comprehended not only children of the first degree, but the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all other descend- ants in the direct line." Posthumous children inherit, in all cases, in like manner as if they had been born in the lifetime of the intestate and had sur- vived him; 2 Greenl. Cruise, Dig. 133; 4 Kent 412. See 2 Washb. R. P. 412, 439, 699. In Pennsylvania, and in some other states; act of 1836, p. 250; Rhode Island, Rev. Stat. tit. xxiv. c. 154, § 10; 3 Gray 867: the will of their fathers or mothers in which no provision is made for them is re- voked, as far as regards them, by operation of law; 3 Binn. 498; 5 Wash. St. 390. Ir Iowa a will is revoked by the birth of: child after its execution; 50 Fed. Rep. 310 See, as to the law of Virginia on this sub- ject, 3 Munf. 20. See AGE; IN VENTRE SA

CHILDmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

A "dependent or neglected child" is one whose condition, due to some act of commission or omission on the part of its parents or those whose duty it is to exercise control over it, is such as make it necessary, for the benefit of the child and the good of society, to remove it from its surroundings. 142 Ky. 160, 133 S. W. 1137. In an act to regulate them by juvenile courts means: Any child under the age of sixteen years who for any reason is destitute, homeless or abandoned; or dependent upon the public for support; or has not the proper parental care or guardianship; or who habitually begs or receives alms; or who is found living in any house of ill fame, or within a vicious or disreputable place; or whose home, by reason of neglect, cruelty or depravity on the part of its parents, guardians or any other persons in whose care it may be, is an unfit place for such a child; and any child under eight years who is found begging, singing, or playing any musical instrument upon the street, or giving any public entertainment, or who accom- panies or is used in aid of any person so doing. 60 Okl. Cr. Rep. 498. See DELIN-

CHILDn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A son or a daughter; a male or female descendant, in the first degree; the immediate progeny of human parents; -- in law, legitimate offspring. Used also of animals and plants. A descendant, however remote; -- used esp. in the plural; as, the children of Israel; the children of Edom. One who, by character of practice, shows signs of relationship to, or of the influence of, another; one closely connected with a place, occupation, character, etc.; as, a child of God; a child of the devil; a child of disobedience; a child of toil; a child of the people. A noble youth. See Childe. [Obs.] Chaucer. A young person of either sex. esp. one between infancy and youth; hence, one who exhibits the characteristics of a very young person, as innocence, obedience, trustfulness, limited understanding, etc. When I was child. I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1. Cor. xii. 11. A female infant. [Obs.] A boy or a child, I wonder Shak. To be with child, to be pregnant.  -- Child's play, light work; a trifling contest.

CHILDv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To give birth; to produce young. This queen Genissa childing died. Warner. It chanced within two days they childed both. Latimer.

Childnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

Alternative letter-case form of child often used when referring to God (Jesus) or another important child who is understood from context.

childnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority). | A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority). | A youth aged 1 to 9 years, whereas neonates are aged 0 to 1 month, infants are aged 1 to 12 months, and adolescents are aged 10 to 20 years. | One's direct descendant by birth, regardless of age; one's offspring; a son or daughter. | The thirteenth Lenormand card. | A figurative offspring | A person considered a product of a place or culture, a member of a tribe or culture, regardless of age. | A figurative offspring | Anything derived from or caused by something. | A figurative offspring | A data item, process, or object which has a subservient or derivative role relative to another. | Alternative form of childe (“youth of noble birth”). | A subordinate node of a tree. | An adult or adolescent with childish or stupid behaviors. | A female child, a girl.

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