Standard Lemma guide

childlessness

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.

  • General-American: /ˈt͡ʃhaɪ̯ɫdləs.nəs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being childless.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the condition of being without offspring

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: situation, state of affairs

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English childless Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English childlessness From childless + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: бяздзе́тнасць (bjazdzjétnascʹ) — state of being childless
  • Chinese Mandarin: 无后 (wúhòu) — state of being childless
  • Danish: barnløshed — state of being childless
  • Dutch: kinderloosheid — state of being childless
  • Finnish: lapsettomuus — state of being childless
  • German: Kinderlosigkeit — state of being childless
  • Greek: ατεκνία (ateknía) — state of being childless
  • Ancient Greek: ἀτεκνία (ateknía) — state of being childless
  • Hindi: संतानहीनता (santānhīntā) — state of being childless
  • Hindi: निःसंतानता (niḥsantāntā) — state of being childless
  • Hungarian: gyermektelenség — state of being childless
  • Kazakh: баласыздық (balasyzdyq) — state of being childless
  • Kyrgyz: баласыздык (balasızdık) — state of being childless
  • Latvian: bezbērnotība — state of being childless
  • Lithuanian: bevaikystė — state of being childless
  • Macedonian: бездетност (bezdetnost) — state of being childless
  • Eastern Mari: йочадымылык (jočadymylyk) — state of being childless
  • Norwegian Bokmål: barnløshet — state of being childless
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: barnløyse — state of being childless
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: barnlausheit — state of being childless
  • Old English: bearnlīest — state of being childless
  • Polish: bezdzietność — state of being childless
  • Polish: bezpotomność — state of being childless
  • Russian: безде́тность (bezdétnostʹ) — state of being childless
  • Swahili: ugumba — state of being childless
  • Swedish: barnlöshet — state of being childless
  • Turkish: çocuksuzluk — state of being childless
  • Ukrainian: безді́тність (bezdítnistʹ) — state of being childless