Etymology

infant

in·fant
I1N1F4A1N1T1

Today it means: A very young human being, from birth to somewhere between six months and two years of age after birth, needing almost constant care and attention. Full definition →

Middle English infaunt ← Latin īnfantem ← Anglo-Norman enfanter
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The story

  1. Anglo-Norman · derived fromenfanter
  2. Latin · borrowed fromīnfantem
  3. Middle English · inherited frominfaunt
  4. English todayinfant

Inherited from Middle English infaunt, borrowed from Latin īnfantem, accusative masculine singular of īnfāns, nominal use of the adjective meaning 'not able to speak', from īn- (“not”) + fāns, present participle of for (“to speak”). The verb is from Anglo-Norman enfanter, from the same Latin source. Doublet of infante.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.