Phrase guide

child abuse

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈtʃaɪldəbjuːs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment of a child that causes long-term or permanent damage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: criminology, human-sciences, law, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the physical or emotional or sexual mistreatment of children

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: maltreatment, ill-treatment, ill-usage, abuse

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Abkhaz: ахәыҷқәа рықәымчра (axwəčʼkwa rəkwəmčra) — mistreatment of a child
  • Afrikaans: kindermishandeling — mistreatment of a child
  • Arabic: إِسَاءَة مُعَامَلَة لِلْأَطْفَال (ʔisāʔa muʕāmala lilʔaṭfāl) — mistreatment of a child
  • Arabic: إِسَاءَة مُعَامَلَة الْأَطْفَال (ʔisāʔa muʕāmala al-ʔaṭfāl) — mistreatment of a child
  • Catalan: maltractament infantil — mistreatment of a child
  • Chinese Mandarin: 兒童虐待 /儿童虐待 (értóng nüèdài) — mistreatment of a child
  • Chinese Mandarin: 虐待兒童 /虐待儿童 (nüèdài értóng) — mistreatment of a child
  • Chinese Mandarin: 虐童 (nüètóng) — mistreatment of a child
  • Dutch: kindermishandeling — mistreatment of a child
  • Dutch: kindermisbruik — mistreatment of a child
  • Finnish: lasten hyväksikäyttö — mistreatment of a child
  • French: maltraitance sur mineur — mistreatment of a child
  • German: Kindesmisshandlung — mistreatment of a child
  • German: Kindesmissbrauch — mistreatment of a child
  • Hungarian: gyermekbántalmazás — mistreatment of a child
  • Italian: abuso minorile — mistreatment of a child
  • Japanese: 児童虐待 (jidō gyakutai) — mistreatment of a child
  • Kazakh: балаға зорлық (balağa zorlyq) — mistreatment of a child
  • Korean: 아동 학대 (adong hakdae) — mistreatment of a child
  • Norwegian: barnemishandling — mistreatment of a child
  • Portuguese: abuso infantil — mistreatment of a child
  • Romanian: abuz asupra copilului — mistreatment of a child
  • Russian: наси́лие над детьми́ (nasílije nad detʹmí) — mistreatment of a child
  • Spanish: abuso de menores — mistreatment of a child
  • Swedish: barnmisshandel — mistreatment of a child
  • Swedish: övergrepp mot barn — mistreatment of a child
  • Turkish: çocuk istismarı — mistreatment of a child
  • Vietnamese: ngược đãi trẻ em — mistreatment of a child
  • Vietnamese: lạm dụng trẻ em — mistreatment of a child