noun
youth
YOOTH/juːθ/
The period of life before adulthood.
The teenagers enjoy their youth, playing and learning together in the park.
Etymology
Old English geoguð named both the early stage of life and the condition of being young. The selected meaning preserves the life-stage sense, rather than the related use for young people themselves.
In context
For there is a period when mature men and women who have married young are more impelled to temptation than in youth, though not so exposed to it.
More examples
- She remembers her youth in a small farming town.
- In my youth, I rode my bike everywhere.
- Several local youths help clean up the playground.
Forms
youth · youths
youthful adjective — Having qualities associated with young people.
youthfulness noun — The quality of being or seeming young.
Similar words
- childhood
- Emphasizes the earlier years, usually before adolescence begins.
- adolescence
- Specifically names the transitional stage between childhood and adulthood.