How to say "infancy" in Japanese

• 幼稚ようちJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounBest known as an adjective meaning 'childish, immature'; as a noun for 'infancy' it is seldom the word you want — choose 幼少 or 幼年 instead.
• 幼少ようしょうCommon
  na-adjective, no-adjectiveCovers infancy and early childhood, stressing how young a person was; it fits accounts of someone's early years, such as biographical sketches of where a person grew up.
  彼かれのマナーが悪わるいのは幼少ようしょう時代じだいのしつけが足たりなかったせいだと彼かれらは考かんがえた。↗

  They attributed his bad manners to lack of training in childhood.
• 幼年ようねんCommon
  nounCovers childhood and infancy, taking in the whole of early childhood; use it when you mean the period of being a young child rather than the mere fact of being very young.
• 幼時ようじCommon
  no-adjective, adverbFrames infancy as the time of one's early childhood; it is natural when recalling or looking back on those years.

Choose 幼少 for the tender-age feel of infancy, 幼年 or 幼時 for early childhood as a period, and leave 幼稚 aside for this sense, since it is better known as 'childish'.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 幼稚ようちinfancy
• 幼少ようしょうinfancy
• 幼年ようねんchildhood
• 幼時ようじchildhood
• 幼ようinfancy
• 揺籃期ようらんきinfancy
• 乳児期にゅうじきinfancy
• 幼年期ようねんきchildhood
• 未成熟みせいじゅくimmaturity
• 卵たまごbeginning