Meanings
- Irelandpluralobsolete elsewherePlural of child.
Parents, I've noticed, have a trick of saying their prayers through their childer on weathersome days.
1906, Halliwell Sutcliffe, A Benedick in Arcady1 more example
"Well, whin we got up to the house, there was every one o' the people that's in the work, min, women and childher, all come together in the yard; an' a purty sight it was to luk upon, Thady: they wor all so nate an so clane, an' so happy."
1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 515 - pluralfantasyPlural of childe (“self-turned vampire”).
plural childers · plural children
- IrelandNorthern EnglandA child.
Yebbut...she ain't a childer any more...she's stuck in no-mans-land for the next few years.
2003 September 13, Guy King, “Re: Hi from Kran”, in uk.rec.sheds (Usenet)3 more examples
As yo ma be quoit shure where there's agret family a childer, a wumman's loik tubbe varra throng ina monin
1839, Abel BYWATER, The Sheffield Dialect. [A Series of Papers in that Dialect, with a Glossary.], page 223Aye has he, Dan'l Drax, so do ee larn him what cums to they as lets off rebels. He be safter nor turnips, nor boiled turnips, so he be. Was blubberin' while back over yon rebel an'a childer !
1894, Emily Lawless, Maelcho: A Sixteenth Century NarrativeAy, a childer's class, tha' knows — a Katty — Katty — Aw dunna know wot they caw'n it.
1899, Frederick R. Smith, Doxie Dent: A Clog-shop Chronicle
Origin
- Old Englishċildra
- Middle Englishchilder
- Englishchilder
From Middle English childer, childre, from Old English ċildra, ċildru.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
childer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/childer
“childer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/childer. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “childer,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/childer.
Source: childer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.