Etymology

adult

A1D2U1L1T1

Today it means: An animal that is full-grown. Full definition →

French adulte ← Latin adultus
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived fromadultus“grown up”
  2. French · borrowed fromadulte
  3. English todayadult

From French adulte, from Latin adultus (“grown up”), perfect passive participle of adolescō (“to grow up”). Compare adolescent.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.