子女|しじょshijo[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. nounsons and daughters; children
   近頃ちかごろ日本にっぽんの帰国子女きこくしじょが増ふえている。↗

   The number of Japanese students returning after life abroad has been increasing as of late.
2. noungirl

• Synonym子供こどもNeutralThe everyday word for a child, by far the most common. 「子女」 has a written flavour and often appears in compounds such as 「帰国子女」.
• Synonym子こNeutralMeans a child or offspring and also works as a suffix for young people; a native word of very wide use, where 「子女」 is the written collective.
• Synonym娘むすめNeutralMeans a daughter of any age, and also a young woman. 「子女」 covers sons and daughters together, 「娘」 only the daughters.
• Synonym女の子おんなのこCasualA colloquial word for a girl or young woman, common in speech; it refers to girls only, whereas the written 「子女」 covers sons and daughters together.
• Synonym女児じょじNeutralA formal word for a young girl, seen mostly in statistics and news reports.
• Synonym子弟していWrittenWritten style for the young of a family, sons and younger brothers, as in 「良家の子弟」; it leans toward the young men of the house.
• Synonymお子様おこさまFormalThe most polite way to refer to another person's child; it can also be used figuratively for an immature person.
• Synonymお子さんおこさんNeutralA polite way to speak of someone else's child, more relaxed and casual than 「お子様」.
• Synonym子種こだねNeutralOffspring or seed, with the nuance of continuing the family bloodline; it can also mean sperm.
• Synonym児女じじょWrittenA written, old-fashioned word for girls, or for women and children generally.
• Related少女しょうじょNeutralA girl, usually aged about seven to seventeen; the emphasis is on the age range, not the family relation.
• Related幼女ようじょNeutralA little girl; a term typical of news reports and legal language.
• Related女子じょしCasualA dialectal, dated word for a girl or woman, heard in casual speech.
• Related乙女おとめNeutralA literary word for a maiden or young woman, with a pure, romantic colouring.
• Related童女どうじょWrittenA written and rather rare word for a young girl; it covers girls only, never boys.
• Related女の童めのわらべWrittenAn archaic word for a young girl, found mainly in classical literature.
• Related娘子じょうしWrittenAn archaic word for a girl or woman; virtually never used in modern Japanese.
• Antonym父母ふぼNeutralThe antonym: father and mother, the parents set against 「子女」.
• Antonym親おやNeutralThe antonym: a parent or parents in general; the everyday word, opposed to 「子女」.

「子女」 is the written-style collective term for sons and daughters, met most often in compounds like 「帰国子女」 and 「良家の子女」. In daily speech say 「子供」; to refer politely to someone else's child use 「お子さん」, or the more formal 「お子様」. For a daughter say 「娘」, for a girl 「女の子」. 「女児」「子弟」「児女」 belong to written or official prose, 「乙女」「女の童」「娘子」 are literary or archaic, and the antonyms are 「父母」 and 「親」.

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

1. 息子むすこと娘むすめ。子供こども。
2. 娘むすめ。女の子おんなのこ。