Adjacent Words

Youth definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

YOUTH, n. Yuth. [G.]
1. The part of life that succeeds to childhood. In a general sense, youth denotes the whole early part of life, from infancy to manhood; but it is not unusual to divide the stages of life into infancy, childhood, youth, and manhood. In this sense the word can have no plural.
Those who pass their youth in vice, are justly condemned to spend their age in folly.
2. A young man. In this sense it has a plural.
Seven youths from Athens yearly sent--
3. A young person, male or female.
4. Young persons, collectively.
It is fit to youth to read the best authors first.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a young person (especially a young man or boy) [syn: young person, youth, younker, spring chicken]
2: young people collectively; "rock music appeals to the young"; "youth everywhere rises in revolt" [syn: young, youth] [ant: aged, elderly]
3: the time of life between childhood and maturity
4: early maturity; the state of being young or immature or inexperienced
5: an early period of development; "during the youth of the project" [syn: youth, early days]
6: the freshness and vitality characteristic of a young person [syn: youth, youthfulness, juvenility]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural youths) Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English youthe, from Old English geoguth; akin to Old English geong young — more at young Date: before 12th century 1. a. the time of life when one is young; especially the period between childhood and maturity b. the early period of existence, growth, or development 2. a. a young person; especially a young male between adolescence and maturity b. young persons or creatures — usually plural in construction 3. the quality or state of being youthful ; youthfulness

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. youths) 1 the state of being young; the period between childhood and adult age. 2 the vigour or enthusiasm, inexperience, or other characteristic of this period. 3 an early stage of development etc. 4 a young person (esp. male). 5 (pl.) young people collectively (the youth of the country). Phrases and idioms: youth club (or centre) a place or organization provided for young people's leisure activities. youth hostel a place where (esp. young) holiday-makers can put up cheaply for the night. youth hosteller a user of a youth hostel. Etymology: OE geoguth f. Gmc, rel. to YOUNG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Youth Youth ([=u]th), n.; pl. Youths ([=u]ths; 264) or collectively Youth. [OE. youthe, youh[thorn]e, [yogh]uhe[eth]e, [yogh]uwe[eth]e, [yogh]eo[yogh]e[eth]e, AS. geogu[eth], geogo[eth]; akin to OS. jug[eth], D. jeugd, OHG. jugund, G. jugend, Goth. junda. [root]281. See Young.] 1. The quality or state of being young; youthfulness; juvenility. ``In my flower of youth.'' --Milton. Such as in his face Youth smiled celestial. --Milton. 2. The part of life that succeeds to childhood; the period of existence preceding maturity or age; the whole early part of life, from childhood, or, sometimes, from infancy, to manhood. He wondered that your lordship Would suffer him to spend his youth at home. --Shak. Those who pass their youth in vice are justly condemned to spend their age in folly. --Rambler. 3. A young person; especially, a young man. Seven youths from Athens yearly sent. --Dryden. 4. Young persons, collectively. It is fit to read the best authors to youth first. --B. Jonson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Youth Youth ([=u]th), n.; pl. Youths ([=u]ths; 264) or collectively Youth. [OE. youthe, youh[thorn]e, [yogh]uhe[eth]e, [yogh]uwe[eth]e, [yogh]eo[yogh]e[eth]e, AS. geogu[eth], geogo[eth]; akin to OS. jug[eth], D. jeugd, OHG. jugund, G. jugend, Goth. junda. [root]281. See Young.] 1. The quality or state of being young; youthfulness; juvenility. ``In my flower of youth.'' --Milton. Such as in his face Youth smiled celestial. --Milton. 2. The part of life that succeeds to childhood; the period of existence preceding maturity or age; the whole early part of life, from childhood, or, sometimes, from infancy, to manhood. He wondered that your lordship Would suffer him to spend his youth at home. --Shak. Those who pass their youth in vice are justly condemned to spend their age in folly. --Rambler. 3. A young person; especially, a young man. Seven youths from Athens yearly sent. --Dryden. 4. Young persons, collectively. It is fit to read the best authors to youth first. --B. Jonson.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(youths) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Someone's youth is the period of their life during which they are a child, before they are a fully mature adult. In my youth my ambition had been to be an inventor. ...the comic books of my youth. N-UNCOUNT: usu poss N 2. Youth is the quality or state of being young. Gregory was still enchanted with Shannon's youth and joy and beauty... The team is now a good mixture of experience and youth. N-UNCOUNT 3. Journalists often refer to young men as youths, especially when they are reporting that the young men have caused trouble. ...gangs of youths who broke windows and looted shops... N-COUNT 4. The youth are young people considered as a group. He represents the opinions of the youth of today... N-PLURAL: usu with poss

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Juvenility, adolescence, juniority, minority, teens, bloom, nonage, youthfulness, prime of life, flower of life. 2. Boy, stripling, school-boy, lad, youngster. 3. Young men, young women, young persons the rising generation.

Foolish Dictionary

The dynamo that makes the world go round; a product of its own generation, with its wires carrying Power into the high places of Earth and with its currents of Thought short-circuited only by bigoted Old Age.

Moby Thesaurus

adolescence, adolescent, adolescents, awkward age, baby, babyhood, beginnings, birth, boy, boyhood, bub, bubba, buck, bud, buddy, callowness, chick, child, childhood, childkind, children, chit, colt, cradle, cub, damsel, demoiselle, dewiness, fellow, fledgling, freshman year, genesis, girl, girlhood, greenness, hobbledehoy, hopeful, immaturity, inception, inchoation, incipience, incipiency, incunabula, inexperience, infancy, infant, junior, juvenal, juvenile, juveniles, juvenility, kid, kids, lad, laddie, lass, lassie, little kids, mademoiselle, maid, maiden, manchild, master, minor, minority, moppet, muchacho, nascence, nascency, nativity, new generation, origin, origination, parturition, pregnancy, prime, puberty, pubescence, pubescent, pup, puppy, rising generation, salad days, sapling, schoolboy, schoolgirl, slip, small fry, sonny, sonny boy, sprig, spring, springtide, springtime, stripling, tad, teen, teenager, teener, teenybopper, tots, unripeness, whelp, whippersnapper, young, young blood, young fry, young hopeful, young man, young people, young person, younger, youngest, youngling, youngster, youngsters, youthfulness, youthhood