changeling

/ˈtʃeɪndʒlɪŋ/

/ˈtʃeɪndʒlɪŋ/

Other forms: changelings

A changeling is a child who is suspected to not be a couple’s real child. As the myth goes, a changeling was substituted by fairies.

Do you ever feel like your parents might not be your real parents? Then maybe you’re a changeling. A changeling is part of a switcheroo by fairies who switch out a couple’s real baby with another baby. The new baby is the changeling. Fortunately, fairies are mythical creatures, so the concept of a changeling is also fanciful. The -ling part appears in many other Middle and Old English words: underling, hireling, duckling, and yearling, to name a few.

Definitions of changeling

1. noun

   a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy
   type of:

   child, fry, kid, minor, nestling, nipper, shaver, small fry, tiddler, tike, tyke, youngster

   a young person of either sex
2. noun

   a person of subnormal intelligence
   synonyms: cretin, half-wit, idiot, imbecile, moron

   type of:

   simple, simpleton

   a person lacking intelligence or common sense