Standard Lemma guide

playpen

noun · 3 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.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P L EY1 P EH2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An enclosure in which babies or small children can play.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: baby cage

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An area or domain in which a person can exercise their activities or endeavors freely.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a portable enclosure in which babies may be left to play

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pen

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: enclosure

History

Etymology

From play + pen.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: حَظِيرَة اللَّعْب لِلْأَطْفَال — enclosure for children to play in
  • Arabic: قَفَص اللَّعْب لِلْأَطْفَال (qafaṣ al-laʕb lilʔaṭfāl) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Bulgarian: кошара (košara) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Chinese Mandarin: 嬰兒圍欄 /婴儿围栏 (yīng'ér wéilán) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Chinese Mandarin: 嬰兒用圍欄 /婴儿用围栏 (yīng'ér yòng wéilán) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Czech: dětská ohrádka — enclosure for children to play in
  • Danish: kravlegård — enclosure for children to play in
  • Dutch: box — enclosure for children to play in
  • Esperanto: krablejo — enclosure for children to play in
  • Finnish: leikkikehä — enclosure for children to play in
  • French: parc à bébé — enclosure for children to play in
  • French: parc pour bébé — enclosure for children to play in
  • German: Laufgitter — enclosure for children to play in
  • German: Laufstall — enclosure for children to play in
  • German: Gehschule — enclosure for children to play in
  • Greek: πάρκο (párko) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Italian: box — enclosure for children to play in
  • Japanese: ベビーサークル (bebī sākuru) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Japanese: プレイペン (pureipen) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Māori: pakokori — enclosure for children to play in
  • Norwegian Bokmål: lekegrind — enclosure for children to play in
  • Norwegian Bokmål: leikegrind — enclosure for children to play in
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: leikegrind — enclosure for children to play in
  • Polish: kojec — enclosure for children to play in
  • Portuguese: parque — enclosure for children to play in
  • Portuguese: cercado — enclosure for children to play in
  • Portuguese: chiqueirinho — enclosure for children to play in
  • Russian: мане́ж (manéž) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Russian: де́тский мане́ж (détskij manéž) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Spanish: parque para bebés — enclosure for children to play in
  • Spanish: corralito — enclosure for children to play in
  • Swedish: lekhage — enclosure for children to play in
  • Swedish: barnhage — enclosure for children to play in
  • Ukrainian: дитячий мане́ж (dytjačyj manéž) — enclosure for children to play in
  • Vietnamese: cũi — enclosure for children to play in