An only child is a person with no siblings, either biological or adopted. In a family with multiple offspring, first-borns, may be briefly considered only children and have a similar early family environment, but the term only child is generally applied only to those individuals who never have siblings. An only child, however, may have half-siblings or step-siblings who come along considerably late (after they reach their teens) and still be considered an only child. Children with much older or younger siblings (generally ten or more years) may also have a similar family environment to only children.
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Famous quotes containing the word child:
“The shift from the perception of the child as innocent to the perception of the child as competent has greatly increased the demands on contemporary children for maturity, for participating in competitive sports, for early academic achievement, and for protecting themselves against adults who might do them harm. While children might be able to cope with any one of those demands taken singly, taken together they often exceed children’s adaptive capacity.”
—David Elkind (20th century)