changeling
changeling Lexical Profile
changeling Game Scores & Validity
• noun
In European folklore, a fairy child or deformed creature believed to have been secretly left by fairies, elves, or trolls in exchange for a stolen human infant.
"According to old Celtic legends, the anxious parents suspected that the colicky baby in the cradle was a fairy changeling."
A child or thing secretly substituted for another in infancy or early stages.
"The historical novel follows a royal changeling who grows up in a humble peasant village unaware of his true lineage."
(archaic) A fickle or inconstant person who frequently changes their mind or allegiances.
"His political rivals dismissed him as a mere changeling whose loyalties shifted with every passing breeze."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the mid-16th century from the root 'change' and the diminutive suffix '-ling', originally denoting a fickle person before coming to refer to a fairy child secretly substituted for a human infant in European folklore.