ad·o·les·cence

[ad-l-es-uhns]
noun
1.
the transitional period between puberty and adulthood in human development, extending mainly over the teen years and terminating legally when the age of majority is reached; youth.
2.
the process or state of growing to maturity.
3.
a period or stage of development, as of a society, preceding maturity.

Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French < Latin adolēscentia. See adolescent, -ence

adolescence, adolescents (see synonym study at adolescent).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To adolescence
00:10
Adolescence is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
Collins
World English Dictionary
adolescence (ˌædəˈlɛsəns) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
the period in human development that occurs between the beginning of puberty and adulthood
 
[C15: via Old French from Latin adolēscentia, from adolēscere to grow up, from alēscere to grow, from alēre to feed, nourish]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

adolescence
early 15c., from O.Fr. adolescence (13c.), from L. adolescentia, noun of state from adolescentem (see adolescent).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

adolescence ad·o·les·cence (ād'l-ěs'əns)
n.
The period of physical and psychological development from the onset of puberty to complete growth and maturity.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
adolescence   (ād'l-ěs'əns)  Pronunciation Key 
The period of physical and psychological development from puberty to the onset of adulthood.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Even the physical city seems to be undergoing a kind of defiant adolescence.
Up to the year my stepfather died, he never left me alone about my weight, all
  through my adolescence and adulthood.
Mine has been a wide variety of colors, mostly during my adolescence.
With the birds putting on weight at a rate of a fifth of an ounce a day, that's
  a long and worrying adolescence.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT