It is interesting that people who would like to find family ties between the "child" and the "child" could not do this. Because the words denoting one phenomenon came from different roots. Today we leave the “child” aside. And we’ll talk in detail about what a child is.
Origin
It was in the Russian language, it turns out, a verb that has already disappeared - “chati”. The native speaker of the Russian language does not know exactly what it means, but he perfectly recognizes it in such words as “conceive,” “begin.” That is, the child is “conceived”. That which has passed from opportunity to reality. It becomes clearer what a child is.
Other meanings can be found, 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, it is known that some sprouting plants are rapidly withering. With a person, of course, this does not happen. But we can say that the child is the beginning (hopefully, the reader will forgive us a certain tautology) of this adult life: the time of adventure is over, now we are responsible for another person. Yes, the word is amazing and provides rich food for thought. One has only to ask himself the question: “What is a child?”, And the imagination immediately offers the appropriate images.
Value
But time does not wait, and we need to move on. Despite the fact that the word is of venerable age, and its “parent” has long been “dead”, it is in demand in modern speech. Why? About this after the meaning of the word "child": "Child, child (outdated and ironic)." Despite the notes, one cannot say that a child is always an object of irony. Yes, when it comes to the “child”, which is 30, then, of course, the humorous connotation is obvious. In another case, when it comes to a small child, here the remark containing a noun can be perceived in two ways.
But we promised to tell why the word was not lost in the stream of time. Because in Russian the term “love of lovers”, which does not have a worthy change, is still relevant. Love of children is "love for children." At the moment, according to the dictionary, it is considered obsolete. And often, like the subject of today's conversation, it is used in an ironic manner. That is, now they call it excessive affection for children.
But this is only 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.