最小的那個人（名詞）
這一族直接就是核心畫面：一個還在最初階段的孩子。
baby · noun · C2
A very young child, still a baby or only a little older, who needs a lot of care.
嬰兒
核心畫面
One way to picture it: the very beginning of a life — a baby who cannot yet speak or look after itself, and depends completely on someone else. Everything else the word does is a stretch of that 'earliest stage' picture.
一個生命最開頭的那一段：懷裡的嬰兒，還不會說話、還不能照顧自己，一切都要靠別人。infant 抓住的其實是「還在最初…更多收起
一個生命最開頭的那一段：懷裡的嬰兒，還不會說話、還不能照顧自己，一切都要靠別人。infant 抓住的其實是「還在最初階段、還很小、還要被照顧」這個位置。從這個畫面往外走，它可以指剛上學的小朋友、指專門為這個年紀做的東西，最後甚至跳出人的範圍，用來說一個剛起步的產業——就像一個還在學步的嬰兒。From the word’s history
Latin īnfāns literally means 'not speaking' (in- 'not' + fāns 'speaking'), which is why the word marks the stage before speech and, by extension, any stage that has not yet found its own voice or feet.
拉丁文的 īnfāns 字面意思是「還不會說話的」（in- 「不」＋ fāns 「說話」）。這個字根正好解釋了現代的核心：infant 標的不只是年紀小，而是「還沒開口、還沒能自立」的那個階段——所以後來拿去形容一個剛起步、還沒站穩的產業，也就順理成章。
Wiktionary: infant (from Middle English infaunt, from Latin īnfantem, īnfāns 'not able to speak')
Three branches
為最小的人做的（形容詞）
從「這個人」轉成「給這個人用的」：名詞擺到名詞前面，就變成在標示對象的年紀。
for babies · adjective · C2
Made or meant for babies or very young children — used before a noun about food, care, or products.
嬰兒用的
剛起步的東西（比喻）
把嬰兒的處境整個借給非人的東西：剛出生、還沒站穩、還需要保護。
newly started, nascent · adjective · C2
Used about a company, industry, or group that has only just started and is still growing.
新興的
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
infantnoun/ˈɪn.fənt/
- 1
A very young human being, from birth to somewhere between six months and two years of age after birth, needing almost constant care and attention.
- 2
lawA minor.
- Thomas Humphrey Doleman died the 30th of August 1712, an infant, intestate and without issue; Lewis the next nephew died the 17th of April 1716, an infant about sixteen years old, having left his mother Mary Webb, ...
- 3
A student in an infant school or the first part of a primary school.
- 4
obsoleteA noble or aristocratic youth.
- Retourned home, the royall Infant fell / Into her former fitt [...].
infantadj/ˈɪn.fənt/
- 1
Of or pertaining to the earlier half of primary school education.
- Primary schooling in Ireland comprises two Infant years, which are equivalent to pre-school in other countries , and six grades or classes.
- Clearly, from the attention given to it, HMI believed that history should be part of the infant curriculum.
- 2
small, being near its source.
- Leaving Nantyglo, a small station at an altitude of 1,030 ft. with the platform on the eastern side, the train runs northwards over former G.W.R. metals, with the infant River Ebbw, a little more than a yard wide, on the west.
infantverb/ˈɪn.fənt/
- 1
obsoleteTo bear or bring forth (a child); to produce, in general.
- This worthy motto, "No bishop, no king," is […] infanted out of the same fears.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。