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a baby or child.
an innocent or inexperienced person.
(usually initial capital letter) Southern U.S. (used, often before the surname, as a familiar name for a boy or man, especially the youngest of a family.)
Slang.

Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. a girl or woman, especially an attractive one:
Her roommate is a real babe!
an attractive young man.
(sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).

babe in the woods, an innocent, unsuspecting person, especially one likely to be victimized by others:
Some highly informed people are mere babes in the woods where the stock market is concerned.
Also, babe in the wood.
George Herman (“Babe”) 1895–1948, U.S. baseball player.
Mildred Didrikson
[did-rik-suh n] /ˈdɪd rɪk sən/ (Show IPA), (“Babe”) 1914–56, U.S. track-and-field athlete and golfer.
Contemporary Examples

According to Lazenby, Jordan experienced a complete 180 when he transitioned from Little League to babe Ruth baseball.
Speed Read: The Juiciest Bits of a New Michael Jordan Biography William O’Connor May 5, 2014

One afternoon, with [babe] Dahlgren near him in the dugout, a photographer asked Lou if he could take a photo of the two of them.
The Stacks: The Day Lou Gehrig Delivered Baseball’s Gettysburg Address Ray Robinson July 3, 2014

In the note, babe asked to see Leslie one last time before he left New York City forever.
The High Society Bank Robber of the 1800s J. North Conway October 18, 2014

babe Ruth, meanwhile, began knocking balls out of parks as if hitting tee shots at a driving range.
Babe Ruth’s Summer of Records Bill Bryson September 28, 2013

But they all asked the same question: “What makes babe likable?”
Twitter Feed White Girl Problems Becomes a Book: Authors on Babe Walker Isabel Wilkinson January 30, 2012

Historical Examples

But, to her babe, the young mother was passionate at times in her loving demonstrations.
The Allen House T. S. Arthur

And from the time he was a babe in the nursery Coryston had fulfilled it to perfection.
The Coryston Family Mrs. Humphry Ward

Some crocodile or hippopotamus crawling through the rushes might craunch the babe.
The Wedding Ring T. De Witt Talmage

Bless you, bless you, my babe; my beloved, my cherished Eve!
Homeward Bound James Fenimore Cooper

Its a shame that Amys mother treats her as if she were a babe.
Girl Scouts in the Rockies Lillian Elizabeth Roy

noun
a baby
(informal) a naive, gullible, or unsuspecting person (often in the phrase a babe in arms)
(informal) a young woman or man perceived as being sexually attractive
noun (archaic)
pity; compassion
repentance; remorse
grief or distress
noun
(Old Testament)

a Moabite woman, who left her own people to remain with her mother-in-law Naomi, and became the wife of Boaz; an ancestress of David
the book in which these events are recounted

George Herman, nicknamed Babe. 1895–1948, US professional baseball player from 1914 to 1935
n.

late 14c., short for baban (early 13c.), which probably is imitative of baby talk (cf. babble), however in many languages the cognate word means “old woman” (cf. Russian babushka “grandmother,” from baba “peasant woman”).

Crist crid in cradil, “moder, baba!” [John Audelay, c.1426]

Now mostly superseded by its diminutive form baby. Used figuratively for “a childish person” from 1520s. Meaning “attractive young woman” is 1915, college slang. Babe in the woods is from 1795.

fem. proper name, biblical ancestor of David, from Hebrew Ruth, probably a contraction of reuth “companion, friend, fellow woman.”
n.

“sorrow for the misery of another; repentance, regret,” c.1200, ruthe, from Old Norse hryggð “ruth, sorrow,” from hryggr “sorrowful, grieved” (see rue (v.)) + Proto-Germanic abstract noun suffix *-itho (see -th (2)). Or else formed in English from reuwen “to rue” on the model of true/truth, etc. The Old English word was rue (n.2).

The great-grandmother of King David, known for her kindness and faithfulness. Not an Israelite herself, she married an Israelite who had come to her country with his family. Ruth’s husband died, and her mother-in-law, Naomi, set out to return to the country of the Israelites. Ruth insisted on accompanying Naomi, saying, “ Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge.” In the country of the Israelites, Ruth married Boaz, a rich relative of her dead husband; Boaz had been attracted to Ruth by her generosity. Her story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament.

noun

A girl or woman, esp a sexually desirable one; chick, doll •Used almost entirely by men and considered offensive by many women; strong resurgence of use in the 1990s (1915+)

used of children generally (Matt. 11:25; 21:16; Luke 10:21; Rom. 2:20). It is used also of those who are weak in Christian faith and knowledge (1 Cor. 3:1; Heb. 5:13; 1 Pet. 2:2). In Isa. 3:4 the word “babes” refers to a succession of weak and wicked princes who reigned over Judah from the death of Josiah downward to the destruction of Jerusalem.

a friend, a Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, whose father, Elimelech, had settled in the land of Moab. On the death of Elimelech and Mahlon, Naomi came with Ruth, her daughter-in-law, who refused to leave her, to Bethlehem, the old home from which Elimelech had migrated. There she had a rich relative, Boaz, to whom Ruth was eventually married. She became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David. Thus Ruth, a Gentile, is among the maternal progenitors of our Lord (Matt. 1:5). The story of “the gleaner Ruth illustrates the friendly relations between the good Boaz and his reapers, the Jewish land system, the method of transferring property from one person to another, the working of the Mosaic law for the relief of distressed and ruined families; but, above all, handing down the unselfishness, the brave love, the unshaken trustfulness of her who, though not of the chosen race, was, like the Canaanitess Tamar (Gen. 38:29; Matt. 1:3) and the Canaanitess Rahab (Matt. 1:5), privileged to become the ancestress of David, and so of ‘great David’s greater Son'” (Ruth 4:18-22).