It is interesting that people who would like to find family ties between a "child" and a "child" could not do this. Because the words denoting the same phenomenon come from different roots. "Child" today we leave aside. And let's talk about what a child is in detail.
Origin
There was in Russian, it turns out, a verb that has already disappeared - "chati". A native speaker of the Russian language does not know what exactly it means, but he perfectly recognizes it in such words as “conceive”, “start”. That is, a child is “conceived”. That which has passed from possibility into reality. It becomes clearer what a child is.
You can find other meanings, for example, "offspring", "escape". In other words, something young, new, following the parent. By the way, this can be deployed in the other direction. For example, some sprout plants are known to wither rapidly. Of course, this does not happen to humans. But we can say that a child is the beginning (we hope the reader will forgive us a certain tautology) of a real adult life: the time for adventure is over, now we are responsible for anotherperson. Yes, the word is surprising and gives rich food for thought. One has only to ask oneself the question: “what is a child?”, and fantasy immediately offers the appropriate images.
Meaning
But time is running out and we need to move on. Despite the fact that the word is of venerable age, and its “parent” “died” long ago, it is in demand in modern speech. Why? About this after the meaning of the word "child": "Child, child (obsolete and ironic)." Despite the notes, one cannot say that a child is always an object of irony. Yes, when it comes to the “child”, who is 30, then, of course, the humorous connotation is obvious. In another case, if we are talking about a small child, here a replica containing a noun can be perceived in two ways.
But we promised to tell you why the word was not lost in the flow of time. Because in the Russian language the term “love of children” still remains relevant, which does not have a worthy replacement. Love for children is “love for children”. At the moment, according to the dictionary, it is considered obsolete. And often, just like the subject of today's conversation, it is used in an ironic manner. That is, now it is called excessive attachment to children.
But that's just a version. Perhaps the "child" does not disappear from the language for other reasons, but they are unknown to us. The main thing is not the grounds for the presence of a noun in the language, but the fact that there is a question about what a child is.
