juvenility

English

Etymology

juvenile + -ity, from Latin iuvenilitas

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dʒuvəˈnɪlɪti/
  • Rhymes: -ɪlɪti

Noun

juvenility (countable and uncountable, plural juvenilities)

  1. The state or quality of being juvenile.
    Antonym: senility
    • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 37:
      Next in juvenility to Abraham came two more girls, Hope and Modesty; then a boy of three, and then the baby, who had just completed his first year.
    The plant grew from juvenility to maturity in a week.
  2. Juvenile behaviour, writing, etc.
    Antonym: senility
    Hyponym: puerility
    • 1828, The Eclectic Review, volume 1, page 574:
      The frantic fanaticism of this paragraph deprives us of all hope that Mr. Irving will, as we once fondly hoped, outgrow his juvenilities.

Translations

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