What does teething mean?
Teething denotes the developmental process in which a baby's teeth push through the gums, as well as the period of discomfort and difficulty that may accompany it. The word is used as an uncountable noun, as an attributive adjective in terms such as teething pain, and as a verb describing an infant undergoing tooth eruption. Teething is a normal part of early development, although the extent and intensity of associated symptoms vary considerably between children. Claims about fever, rashes, or other illnesses being caused by teeting should therefore be treated cautiously. The word is especially useful because it gives a concise, familiar name to a nearly universal stage of infancy and to the challenges commonly experienced by babies and their caregivers during that stage.
The process or developmental stage during which a baby's teeth emerge through the gums, including any associated discomfort or difficulties.
"Teething caused the infant considerable discomfort."
Normally uncountable; it is usually treated as a stage or process rather than as a countable event.
To develop or cut teeth, especially as an infant.
"By the following month, the infant had been teething and was increasingly difficult to soothe."
The verb is especially common in the continuous construction 'is teething.'
Relating to or associated with teething.
"The doctor offered advice about relieving the child's teething discomfort."
Chiefly used attributively to modify a noun.
Teething is normally an uncountable noun, so it is not ordinarily used with a plural form.
"The baby's teething had disrupted the family's sleep."
Before a baby's first tooth arrives, the gums may already have been sending a very obvious signal.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does teething come from?
Teething was formed in English from the verb teethe, which means to develop or cut teeth. Teethe ultimately derives from tooth, an Old English word whose Indo-European relatives include Latin dens, the source of dental, dentist, and dentition. The English verbal and noun formations developed alongside the older distinction between a single tooth and the plural teeth.
How teething is actually used
As a noun, teething is normally uncountable. The adjective is chiefly attributive, while the verb is standard in constructions such as 'the baby is teething.' Symptoms commonly blamed on teething should not automatically be assumed to have been caused by it.