Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Youth
Youth
(ūth)
, Noun.
pl.
Youths
(ūths; 264)
or collectively Youth
. [OE.
youthe
, youhþe
, ȝuheðe
, ȝuweðe
, ȝeoȝeðe
, AS. geoguð
, geogoð
; akin to OS. juguð
, D. jeugd
, OHG. jugund
, G. jugend
, Goth. junda
. √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
Would suffer him to spend his
youth
at home. Shakespeare
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 1828 Edition
Youth
YOUTH
,Noun.
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.
Definition 2024
youth
youth
English
Noun
youth (countable and uncountable, plural youths)
- (uncountable) The quality or state of being young.
- Her youth and beauty is what attracted him to her.
- 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:
- Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
- (uncountable) The part of life following childhood; the period of existence preceding maturity or age; the whole early part of life, from childhood, or, sometimes, from infancy, to manhood.
- Make the most of your youth, it will not last forever.
- I made many mistakes in my youth, but learned from them all.
- 2013 January 1, Brian Hayes, “Father of Fractals”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, page 62:
- Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid.
- (countable) A young person.
- There was a group of youths hanging around the parking lot, reading fashion magazines and listening to music.
- (countable) A young man.
- 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 52
- […] and then a youth appeared—no one quite knew where from or to whom he belonged—but he settled down with them in a happy-go-lucky way, and they all lived together.
- 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 52
- (uncountable) (used in plural form) Young persons, collectively.
Synonyms
- (quality or state of being young): juvenility, youthfulness
- (young person): adolescent, child, kid, lad, teen, teenager, youngster
- (young man): boy, young man
- (young persons, collectively): adolescents, kids, teenagers, teens, young people, youngsters
Antonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from youth
Related terms
Translations
quality or state of being young
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part of life following childhood
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young person
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young man
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young persons, collectively
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