In this article the development of an image of body and sexuality in het child is described, with attention paid to the fantasy life of the child and the role of sexual enlightenment. Out of sexual terminology and sexual fantasies in grown-ups we learn that 'childlike' fantasies often keep playing an important role. Attention is paid to the mutual influence of sexual language and experiencing, in the development of the individual and in a historical perspective. A literary thread running through the article is the Erotic Dictionnary, which poses questions with its colourfull collection of hundreds of terms out of four centuries about the cultural context in which they were and are used.