Meanings
plural adolescences
- countableuncountableThe transitional period of physical and psychological development between childhood and maturity, beginning at the onset of puberty and with an endpoint defined either legally (at the age of majority, such as 18 in many jurisdictions) or psychocognitively (at various ages, depending on individual experience).
Near-synonyms: teenagehood, teenhood, teenagerhood, teenagedom, teenagerdom, teendom
2 more examples
During adolescence, the body and mind go through many complex changes, some of which are difficult to deal with.
So lawyers started filing separate asylum requests for the children, arguing that reintegrating in countries they barely knew, after spending their childhood or adolescence in Belgium, would not only be impossible but would expose them to serious risks.
2020 August 5, Francesca Spinelli, “Meet David: born in France, raised in Belgium, facing removal to the DRC”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 05 Jan 2021Synonyms: hog age, teenagehood, teenhood, teenagerhood, teenagedom, teenagerdom, teendom
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe transitional period of physical and psychological development between childhood and maturity, beginning at the onset of puberty and with an endpoint defined either legally (at the age of majority, such as 18 in many jurisdictions) or psychocognitively (at various ages, depending on individual experience).
Origin
- Latinadolēscentia
- Old Frenchadolescence
- Middle Englishadolescence
- Englishadolescence
From Middle English adolescence, from Old French adolescence, from Latin adolēscentia, from adolēscēns (“young”); see adolescent.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἥβη, ἐφηβεία
- ἥβη (hḗbē)period between childhood and maturity
- ἐφηβεία (ephēbeía)period between childhood and maturity
Arabic مُرَاهَقَة
- مُرَاهَقَة (murāhaqa)period between childhood and maturity
Bulgarian юношество
- юношество (junošestvo)period between childhood and maturity
Catalan adolescència
- adolescènciaperiod between childhood and maturity
Chinese Mandarin 青少年
- 青少年 (qīngshàonián)period between childhood and maturity
Czech dospívání
- dospíváníperiod between childhood and maturity
Danish opvækst
- opvækstperiod between childhood and maturity
Esperanto plenkreskiĝeco, adolesko
- plenkreskiĝecoperiod between childhood and maturity
- adoleskoperiod between childhood and maturity
Estonian noorukiiga
- noorukiigaperiod between childhood and maturity
Finnish murrosikä, nuoruusikä
- murrosikäperiod between childhood and maturity
- nuoruusikäperiod between childhood and maturity
- nuoruusperiod between childhood and maturity
French adolescence
- adolescenceperiod between childhood and maturity
German Adoleszenz, Pubertät
- Adoleszenzperiod between childhood and maturity
- Pubertätperiod between childhood and maturity
- Flegeljahreperiod between childhood and maturity
- Flegelalterperiod between childhood and maturity
Greek εφηβεία
- εφηβεία (efiveía)period between childhood and maturity
Hebrew גיל ההתבגרות
- גיל ההתבגרות (gil ha'hitbagrut)period between childhood and maturity
Hungarian kamaszkor
- kamaszkorperiod between childhood and maturity
Indonesian adolesens
- adolesensperiod between childhood and maturity
Irish óige, ógántacht
- óigeperiod between childhood and maturity
- ógántachtperiod between childhood and maturity
Italian adolescenza
- adolescenzaperiod between childhood and maturity
Japanese 青年期
- 青年期 (seinenki)period between childhood and maturity
Korean 청년기, 청춘기
- 청년기 (cheongnyeon'gi)period between childhood and maturity
- 청춘기 (cheongchun'gi)period between childhood and maturity
Māori taiohinga, taitamarikitanga
- taiohingaperiod between childhood and maturity
- taitamarikitangaperiod between childhood and maturity
Norwegian Bokmål oppvekst
- oppvekstperiod between childhood and maturity
Polish dojrzewanie, młodość
- dojrzewanieperiod between childhood and maturity
- młodośćperiod between childhood and maturity
- adolescencjaperiod between childhood and maturity
Portuguese adolescência
- adolescênciaperiod between childhood and maturity
Romanian adolescență
- adolescențăperiod between childhood and maturity
Russian ю́ность, мо́лодость
- ю́ность (júnostʹ)period between childhood and maturity
- мо́лодость (mólodostʹ)period between childhood and maturity
- о́трочество (ótročestvo)period between childhood and maturity
Scottish Gaelic òige
- òigeperiod between childhood and maturity
Slovak dospievanie
- dospievanieperiod between childhood and maturity
Spanish adolescencia
- adolescenciaperiod between childhood and maturity
Turkish ergenlik, ilk gençlik
- ergenlikperiod between childhood and maturity
- ilk gençlikperiod between childhood and maturity
- büluğperiod between childhood and maturity
Ukrainian ю́ність, мо́лодість
- ю́ність (júnistʹ)period between childhood and maturity
- мо́лодість (mólodistʹ)period between childhood and maturity
Vietnamese thanh thiếu niên, tuổi thần tiên
- thanh thiếu niênperiod between childhood and maturity
- tuổi thần tiênperiod between childhood and maturity
- tuổi ô maiperiod between childhood and maturity
- tuổi teenperiod between childhood and maturity
Welsh llencyndod, adolesens
- llencyndodperiod between childhood and maturity
- adolesensperiod between childhood and maturity
Cite this entry
adolescence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adolescence
“adolescence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adolescence. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “adolescence,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adolescence.
Source: adolescence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.