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adulthood

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,403 of 15,258leans written

Adulthood is the state of being fully grown. Reach adulthood, early adulthood, into adulthood.

The legal line is drawn at eighteen in most countries and the biological one is not drawn at all — the brain's prefrontal cortex goes on developing into the mid-twenties, which is why insurers and criminologists both treat young adults as a separate group. Note the -hood ending, meaning a state, as in childhood.

Definitions of adulthood

  1. 1nounadulthoodThe state of being fully grown.B2+

    “Many habits that begin in childhood carry on well into adulthood.”

adulthood is a stage of life.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *h₂el- (grow)

  2. French

    adulte

  3. English

    adult

  4. English, today

    adulthood

Built from

  • adolescō · Latin — to grow up

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Family & People

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adulthood in the wild

  • A courtesy name is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name.

    Courtesy name

  • Courtesy names are a marker of adulthood and were historically given to men at the age of 20, and sometimes to women upon marriage.

    Courtesy name

  • The typical age of attaining adulthood for humans is 18 years, although definition may vary by country.

    Adult

  • Most modern societies determine legal adulthood based on reaching a legally specified age without requiring a demonstration of physical maturity or preparation for adulthood.

    Adult

  • The young adult stage in human development precedes middle adulthood.

    Young adult

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the adulte family

adult

adulthood — used about once every 4,601 pages · #9,403 · point at the bar for the others