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.
1nounadulthoodThe state of being fully grown.
“Many habits that begin in childhood carry on well into adulthood.”
adulthood is a stage of life.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂el- (grow)
French
adulte
English
adult
English, today
adulthood
Built from
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