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youngest

 - 7 dictionary results

young⋅est

  [yuhng-gist]
Use youngest in a Sentence
–adjective
1. superl. of young.
–noun
2. a person who is the least old of a group, as the youngest member of a family: Their youngest is still in high school.

young

  [yuhng] adjective, young⋅er  [yuhng-ger] , young⋅est  [yuhng-gist] , noun
–adjective
1. being in the first or early stage of life or growth; youthful; not old: a young woman.
2. having the appearance, freshness, vigor, or other qualities of youth.
3. of or pertaining to youth: in one's young days.
4. inexperienced or immature.
5. not far advanced in years in comparison with another or others.
6. junior, as applied to the younger of two persons having the same name: the young Mr. Smith.
7. being in an early stage generally, as of existence, progress, operation, development, or maturity; new; early: a young wine; It is a young company, not yet firmly established.
8. representing or advocating recent or progressive tendencies, policies, or the like.
–noun
9. those who have youth; young persons collectively: the educated young of today; a game for young and old.
10. young offspring: a mother hen protecting her young.
—Idiom
11. with young, (of an animal) pregnant.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME yong(e), OE geong; c. D jong, G jung, ON ungr, Goth jungs; akin to L juvenis

Synonyms:
1. growing. Young, youthful, juvenile all refer to lack of age. Young is the general word for that which is undeveloped, immature, and in process of growth: a young colt, child; young shoots of wheat. Youthful has connotations suggesting the favorable characteristics of youth, such as vigor, enthusiasm, and hopefulness: youthful sports, energy, outlook. Juvenile may suggest less desirable characteristics, such as childishness, petulance, idleness, selfishness, or heedlessness (juvenile behavior), or it may refer simply to the years, up to the later teens, before legal responsibility: juvenile delinquency; juvenile court; juvenile books.

Antonyms:
1. mature, old.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To youngest
young   (yŭng)   
adj.   young·er, young·est

  1. Being in an early period of life, development, or growth.

  2. Newly begun or formed; not advanced: The evening is still young.

  3. Of, belonging to, or suggestive of youth or early life: He is young for his age.

  4. Vigorous or fresh; youthful.

  5. Lacking experience; immature: a young hand at plowing.

  6. Being the junior of two people having the same name.

  7. Geology Being of an early stage in a geologic cycle. Used of bodies of water and land formations.

n.  

  1. Young persons considered as a group; youth: entertainment for the young.

  2. Offspring; brood: a lioness with her young.


[Middle English yong, from Old English geong; see yeu- in Indo-European roots.]
young'ness n.
Synonyms: These adjectives mean of, relating to, characteristic of, or being in an early period of growth or development. Young is the most general of the terms: a young child.
Youthful suggests characteristics, such as enthusiasm, freshness, or energy, that are associated with youth: youthful ardor.
Adolescent specifically implies the characteristics of those in the period between childhood and maturity: adolescent insecurity.
Immature applies to what is not yet fully developed; it sometimes suggests that someone falls short of an expected level of maturity: an emotionally immature adult.
Juvenile connotes immaturity, often childishness: the juvenile pranks of the conventioneers.
Puerile is used derogatorily to suggest silliness, foolishness, or infantilism: a puerile joke.
Green implies lack of training or experience and sometimes callowness: green recruits who couldn't deal with the emergency.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

young  (adj.)
O.E. geong "youthful, young," from P.Gmc. *jungas (cf. O.S., O.Fris. jung, O.N. ungr, M.Du. jonc, Du. jong, O.H.G., Ger. jung, Goth. juggs), from PIE *juwngkos, from PIE base *yeu- "vital force, youthful vigor" (cf. Skt. yuva "young," L. juvenis "young," Lith. jaunas, O.C.S. junu, Rus. junyj "young," O.Ir. oac, Welsh ieuanc "young"). The noun meaning "young animals collectively, offspring" is first attested 1484. Youngster is first attested 1589 (earlier was youngling, from O.E. geongling). From c.1830-1850, Young France, Young Italy, etc., loosely applied to "republican agitators" in various monarchies; also, esp. in Young England, Young America, used generally for "typical young person of the nation." For Young Turk, see Turk.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: young
Pronunciation: 'y&[ng]
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural young
1 : immature offspring especially oflower animals
2 : a single recently born or hatched animal —with young : PREGNANT—used of a female animal
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Young , Thomas. 1773-1829.

British physician and physicist who in 1801 postulated the three-color theory of color vision. Young also discovered (1801) astigmatism and described accommodation.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Science Dictionary
Young   (yŭng)  Pronunciation Key 
British physicist and physician who is best known for his contributions to the wave theory of light and his discovery of how the lens of the human eye changes shape to focus on objects of different distances. He also studied surface tension and elasticity, and Young's modulus (a measure of the rigidity of materials) is named for him. He is also credited with the first scientific definition of the word energy.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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