Quick Definition
τεκνίον, ου, τό n.n. a little child
Strong's Definition
diminutive of 5043; an infant, i.e. (plural figuratively) darlings (Christian converts)
KJV Usage: little children
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, n. | -ου | τίκτω
9.46 · People · Persons For Whom There Is Affectionate Concern
my child, my dear friend, my dear man, my dear one, my dear lad (extension of meaning of τέκνον[a] ‘child, offspring,’ 10.36) a person of any age for whom there is a special relationship of endearment and association It may be impossible to translate τεκνία literally as ‘my children’ in 1JN 3:7 since this might suggest a kinship relationship between the author of 1 John and the people to whom he is addressing his letter. A more satisfactory equivalent in some languages is often ‘my dear friends’ or ‘my dear ones.’
JHN 13:33 · 1JN 2:1 · 1JN 2:12 · 1JN 2:28 · 1JN 3:18 · 1JN 4:4 · 1JN 5:21
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
τεκνίον, -ov, τό, (dimin. of τέκνον, 4. v-; [on the accent, ef. W. 52; Chandler § 3477), a little child; in the N.T. used as a term of kindly address by teachers to their : τὲ καὶ a ‘ 4 ΄ τὸ KQL...TE... Kal, εἴτε... etre, see ei, III. . ἐάν Te, see ἐάν, 1. 3 e. . TEKVOD disciples [always in the plur. little children: Mk. x. 24 Lehm.]; Jn. xiii. 33; Gal. iv. 19 (where L txt. T Tr WH mrg. τέκνα); 1Jn. ii. 1, 12, 28; iii. 7 [WH mrg. παιδία], 18; iv. 4; ν. 21. (Anthol.)
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
τεκνίον teknion 8x
a little child; τεκνία, an endearing appellation, my dear children, Jn. 13:33; 1 Jn. 2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
† τεκνίον, -ου, τό
(dimin. of τέκνον),
a little child: as a term of endearment, in voc. pl., Jo 13:33, Ga 4:19, I Jo 2:1, 12, 28 3:7, 18 4:4 5:21.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
τεκνίον. For this dim. of τέκνον cf. P Oxy XIV. 176614 (11|{|4.}.) ἀσπάζομαι... τὰ ἀβάσκαντα texvia, “I greet your children, whom the evil eye will not harm.” TEKVOYOVEO. With this NT ἅπ. eip. (1 Tim 513) = ‘‘bear a child,”’ we may compare the similar compa, τεκνοποιέομαι in the marriage contract P Eleph 1° (B.c. 311-10) (= Se/ections, p- 3), where the husband is bound down μηδὲ τεκνοποιεῖσθαι ἐξ ἄλλης γυναικός, ‘not to beget children by another woman.” In UPZ i. 45 (B.C. 164) ἕνεκ[α] τοῦ. . . τεκνοπ[ο]ήσασθαί -- θαι) αὐτήν, the meaning is “adopt” (cf. Wilcken’s note). See also s.v. τεκνογονία. τεκνογογία. Ramsay TZeaching p. 170ff. tries to show that, while Tekvoyovew is used in a physical sense in 1 Tim 5‘, the abstract noun τεκνογονία in 1 Tim 215 points rather to ‘‘the power of maternal instinct ”’ or ‘‘ motherhood.”’ But it is by no means clear that the writer did not use the two words with the same connotation. In any case it is not likely that, with Ellicott and other commentators, we are to stress the article and in τῆς Texvoyovias of 1 Tim 215 find a reference to ‘‘the (great) child-bearing,” i.e. the bearing of Jesus, foreshadowed in Gen. 31°.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
τεκνίον (teknion) — children. τεκν-ίον, τό, = {τεκνίδιον}, [NT+2nd c.AD+].