Meanings
nounpreadolescence (uncountable)
- uncountableThe period between childhood and adolescence, between the ages of about nine and eleven for girls, and ten and twelve for boys.
Jojo gains what Pop’s lost of his bearing. First, a brace across his thighs, all the bowlegged softness of his preadolescence dissolved to a granite stance.
2017, Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing, Bloomsbury Circus, page 270
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*per-
- Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
- Proto-Italic*prai
- Proto-Italic*prai-
- Latinprae-
- Middle Englishpre-
- Englishpre-
- Englishadolescence
- Englishpreadolescence
From pre- + adolescence.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto antaŭadoleskanteco
- antaŭadoleskantecothe period between childhood and adolescence
French préadolescence
- préadolescencethe period between childhood and adolescence
German Präadoleszenz
- Präadoleszenzthe period between childhood and adolescence
Irish réamhógántacht
- réamhógántachtthe period between childhood and adolescence
Italian preadolescenza
- preadolescenzathe period between childhood and adolescence
Polish okres przed dojrzewaniem
- okres przed dojrzewaniemthe period between childhood and adolescence
Portuguese pré-adolescência
- pré-adolescênciathe period between childhood and adolescence
Cite this entry
APA
preadolescence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preadolescence
MLA
“preadolescence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preadolescence. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preadolescence,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preadolescence.
Source: preadolescence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.