Child support
Etymology
A modern legal compound of "child" and "support" (from Latin "supportare," to carry, bear up). The phrase reflects the legal principle, developed largely in the 20th century, that the duty to provide for a child survives the ending of the parents’ relationship.
noun phrase · /CHYLD suh-PORT/
Court-ordered payments made by a parent toward the cost of raising their child.
What it names
An obligation owed to the child’s welfare — not to the other parent — a distinction the law takes seriously.
Example
Child support continued after the remarriage, since the duty ran to the children, not to their mother.
Related idea
Child support is money for the child’s upbringing and belongs to the child’s interest; alimony is spousal support paid to a former partner for their own maintenance — courts treat the two as distinct obligations.