Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Adolescence |
AdolescenceNoun1. The time period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood. 2. In the state that someone is in between puberty and adulthood. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "adolescence" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1588. (references) |
Etymology: Adolescence \Ad`o*les"cence\, noun. [Fr., from the Latin expression adolescentia.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Health | The period of life beginning with the appearance of secondary sex characteristics and terminating with the cessation of somatic growth. The years usually referred to as adolescence lie between 13 and 18 years of age. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Adolescence is the transitional stage of development from child to adult. That time is identified with dramatic changes in body, psychology and academic career. In the onset of adolescence, children usually complete elementary school and enter secondary education, such as middle school or high school.
During this period of life, most children go through the physical stages of puberty, which often begin before a person has reached the age of 13. Most cultures regard people as becoming adults at various ages of the teenage years. Many cultures have a formal age of majority when adolescents formally become adults. For example, Japan's celebration of this in January is called the coming of age (or 成人式) (see Japanese calendar).
Puberty, occurring during adolescence, is the stage in the human lifespan when a child begins to develop adult secondary sex characteristics as their hormone balance shifts towards an adult state. Briefly, this is caused by the hypothalamus gland that secretes hormones into the blood stream which trigger growth in the gonads: the girl's ovaries and the boy's testicles. In female adolescents, the first menstrual period is called menarche.
In developed countries, the age at puberty has reduced in the last century, primarily because of better nutrition. That change is particularly apparent in the countries that adopted western food such as Japan. Girls tend to go through puberty earlier than boys.
The word preteen describes a child a bit younger than a teenager: perhaps between the ages of about 8 and 12. The neologism tween has the same meaning. This word comes from the age being between that of a child and a teenager.
Preteens are increasingly a specifically targeted market segment by business, because they tend to maintain the preferences they develop at this age. Examples are personal devices such as cellular phones targeted to this segment.
A teenager or teen is a person whose age is a number ending in "-teen" in the English language: that is to say, someone from the age of thirteen to the age of nineteen. The word is of recent origin, only having appeared in the mid 20th century. In Western culture, a distinct teenage culture has developed. This culture is often considered inferior to the mainstream culture, or in rebellion against it, and is thus often referred to as a subculture or counterculture.
In Japan, the term joshi-kousei (女子高生, meaning female high school students) has become widely used for females strictly in the ages from 16 to 18. They are often noted for their obsession with clothes, pop culture and mobile phones. They are often the target of sexual fantasy and ridicule of their obsessions. Prostitution by them, called enjo kousai (援助交際) in Japan, has become a permanent social issue in the late 1990s.
Maturity in body leads to an interest in sexual activities, sometimes leading to teenage pregnancy. Since they may not be emotionally mature enough or financially able to support children, the latter is usually considered problematic.
At this age there is also a greater probability of drug abuse and alcohol abuse, or mental problems such as schizophrenia, eating disorders and depression. The emotional instability among some adolescents also sometimes causes youth crime.
Search for a unique identity is one of the problems that adolescents often face. They start to ask metaphysical questionss about the meaning of life.
At this age, role models such as sports players and rock stars are popular, and adolescents often express a desire to be like their chosen role model. For this reason, people who are considered role models are often heavily criticised for their behaviour, because of the perceived danger of adolescents copying them.
In commerce, this generation is seen as an important target. Cellular phones, contemporary popular music, video games and clothes are popular amongst adolescents.
In the past (and still in some cultures) there were ceremonies that celebrate adulthood, typically occurring during adolescence. Genpuku (translated as coming of age) in Japan is an instance.
In many countries, those over a certain age (perhaps 18, though this varies) are legally considered responsible adults. Those who are under the age of legal responsibility may be considered too young to be held accountable for criminal action. This is called the defense of infancy. The right to vote in elections is given between the ages of 16 and 21 in many countries.
The sale of selected items such as cigarettes, alcohol, videos, and video games with sexual or violent content, is often prohibited based on age. Such age restrictions vary widely. In practice, it is common that young people engage in underage smoking or drinking, and in some cultures this is tolerated to a certain degree.
Given the emotional immaturity of adolescents, many countries consider those under a certain age to be too young to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activities, even if they are physiologically capable. See age of consent. This issue has been dramatised in the movie Lolita.
Because of their maturing bodies, adolescents may become more likely targets of sex crimes. Clinically pedophilia (or underage sex) is defined as interest in children before puberty, yet in practice it may also include interest in adolescents. In many countries, molestation of adolescents has become a social issue and is considered a serious crime. Pornography involving those under a certain age, typically 18 (see child pornography), is also considered unacceptable and strictly prohibited in most countries. Countries without such laws may be targets for child sex tourism.
In the past (and still in poor countries), female adolescents were sometimes forced to engage in prostitution, even at a young age.
Puberty
Preteens
Teenagers
Psychology of adolescents
Social significance
Legal issues
Fiction about teenagers:
Websites for teenagers
See also:
Compare with:
The Adolescents is also a name of music band.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Adolescence."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Adolescence | Noun: adolescence, pubescence, majority; adultism; adultness; Adjective: manhood, virility, maturity full age, ripe age; flower of age; prime of life, meridian of life, spring of life. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Adolescence |
| English words defined with "adolescence": adolesce ♦ childhood ♦ gender identity, genital phase, genital stage, growing pains ♦ identity crisis ♦ Margaret Mead, Mead ♦ puerility. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "adolescence": Child Development, Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary ♦ Diabetes Mellitus, Insulin-Dependent ♦ Exostoses, Multiple Hereditary ♦ Mental Disorders Diagnosed in Childhood ♦ Pediatric Nursing, Personality Development, Pregnancy in Adolescence. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "adolescence": Indoles. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Adolescence" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. French (adolescence, boyhood, puberty, teenage years, teens). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Adolescence is a marketing ploy. (Almost Famous; writing credit: Cameron Crowe) | |
Clever | Adolescence and snow are the only problems that disappear if you ignore them long enough. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Adolescence pervertie (1974) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Earl Wilson | Snow and adolescence are the only problems that disappear if you ignore them long enough. |
John Ciardi | You don't have to be suffer to be a poet. Adolescence is enough suffering for anyone. |
Karen Savage and Patricia Adams | Adolescence is perhaps nature's way of preparing parents for the empty nest. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Symptoms often begin in early adolescence. (references) | |
Migraine headaches often begin in childhood or adolescence. (references) | ||
In a few cases, complete remission occurs after adolescence. (references) | ||
Children | Costa Rica | There was also a continued increase in reported psychological abuse cases, in part because the 1997 Code of Childhood and Adolescence redefined such abuse and increased awareness of it. Abuses appear to be more prevalent among poor, less-educated families. (references) |
Argentina | The National Council for Childhood, Adolescence and the Family, an independent government organization reporting to the Ministry of Social Development and Environment, stated that according to a 1999 study, approximately 99 percent of all children of primary school age attended schools, with roughly the same percentages for both genders. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Adolescence" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.33% of the time. "Adolescence" is used about 428 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 95.33% | 408 | 13,799 |
| Noun (proper) | 4.67% | 20 | 78,262 |
| Total | 100.00% | 428 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "adolescence": Pregnancy in Adolescence. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "adolescence": adolescence-as-career-move. | |
Ending with "adolescence": mid-adolescence, pre-adolescence. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "adolescence"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaan | puberteit (puberty). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | adoleshencë (teenage, teens), djalëri (boyhood). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | سن المراهقة, جيل المراهقة, المراهقة. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | юношество (boyhood), следпуберитетна възраст, младост (juvenescence, juvenility, springtime, verdure, youth). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | '年期. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | puberta (puberty), jinošsky vìk, dospívání (pubescence). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | adolescentia, ynglingealderen. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | adolescentie, adolescentia, puberteit (puberty). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | نوجوانی , رشد (Growth, Increase, Pickup), دوره جوانی , دوره ء شباب , بلوغ (Maturation, Maturity, Puberty). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | nuorukaisikä. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | adolescence. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Jugend (boyhood, young people, youth, youthfulness), Wachstum (accretion, development, growth, sprout, vintage), Jünglingsalter, Adoleszenz. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | εφηβική ηλικία (puberty, teens), εφηβεία (puberty). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | "תב'רות (maturation, maturing, maturity), "ב'ר" (growing up, maturing), ב'יר" (maturity, puberty, pubescence), ערות (boyhood, girlhood, maidenhood, puerility, youth). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | kamaszkor (awkward age, teen-age). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | masa remaja (bloom, girlhood), keremajaan. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | adolescenza (boyhood, girlhood, juvenescence, teens, youth). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | '年期 , 成熟期 (period of maturity, puberty), 年 (age, age of puberty, for some years, marriageable age). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | せいね"き, せいじゅくき (period of maturity, puberty), とし"ろ (age, age of puberty, for some years, marriageable age). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 사춘기 (Puberty, teen, teenage). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | aegid (immaturity; young people, youth). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | adolescenceay adolescência (youth). (various references) adolescenţã (flapper, girl, girlhood, teen age, teen-ager, teens, youth), tinereţe (childhood, girlhood, heyday, juvenescence, juvenility, may, verdure, youth, youthfulness). (various references) юность (juvenility, one's early days, youth). (various references) mladost (may, youth), mladenaštvo. (various references) adolescencia (youth). (various references) uppväxttid (youth). (various references) gençlik (bloom, dew, green, juvenescence, juvenility, may, prime, puppyhood, the young, young generation, youth, youthful, youthfulness), delikanlılık (puppyhood, youth, youthfulness), büyüme çağı. (various references) яigitlik, яetginjeklik, juwanlyk (youth). (various references) юнь, юність (adolescency, juvenility, nonage, springtime, youth), юнацтво (juvenility, youth). (various references) thời thanh niên (adolescency). (various references) adolesens, llencyndod. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "adolescence": adolescences. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "adolescence": preadolescence. (additional references) | |
Words containing "adolescence": preadolescences. (additional references) | |
| |
"Adolescence" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: adloescence, adolecence, adolescen, adolescens, adolescense, adolesence. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "adolescence" (pronounced a'dule"suns or a'dōle"suns) |
| 7 | -u l e" s u n s | convalescence, obsolescence. |
| 5 | -e" s u n s | acquiescence, essence, evanescence, luminescence, phosphorescence, quintessence, senescence. |
| 4 | -s u n s | absence, beneficence, innocence, licence, license, nuisance, reconnaissance, reminiscence, reticence. |
| 3 | -u n s | abeyance, abhorrence, abstinence, abundance, acceptance, accordance, acquaintance, adherence, admirations, admittance, affluence, allegiance, alliance, allowance, ambiance, ambience, ambivalence, ambulance, annoyance, appearance, appliance, arrogance, ascendance, assistance, assurance, attendance, audience, avoidance, balance, belligerence, benevolence, bioscience, brilliance, cadence, capacitance, chrominance, circumference, clairvoyance, Clarence, clearance, coexistence, cognizance, coherence, coincidence, coinsurance, comeuppance, competence, compliance, concurrence, condolence, conference, confidence, confluence, conformance, congruence, connivance, conscience, consequence, consistence, continuance, contrivance, convenience, convergence, conveyance, correspondence, countenance, counterbalance, counterintelligence, credence, dalliance, decadence, Defeasance, deference, defiance, deliverance, dependence, deterrence, deviance, difference, diligence, disallowance, disappearance, discontinuance, disobedience, dissidence, dissonance, distance, disturbance, divergence, dominance, ebullience, elegance, eloquence, emergence, eminence, endurance, entrance, equivalence, evidence, excellence, existence, expedience, experience, extravagance, exuberance, flamboyance, Florence, forbearance, fragrance, furtherance, governance, grievance, guidance, hindrance, ignorance, imbalance, immanence, imminence, impatience, impedance, importance, impotence, imprudence, inadvertence, incidence, incoherence, incompetence, incontinence, inconvenience, independence, indifference, inductance, indulgence, inexperience, inference, influence, inheritance, insignificance, insistence, insolence, instance, insurance, intelligence, interdependence, interference, intolerance, intransigence, invariance, irrelevance, irreverence, issuance, jurisprudence, luminance, maintenance, malfeasance, negligence, neuroscience, noncompliance, noninterference, nonviolence, obedience, observance, occurrence, omnipotence, omnipresence, opulence, ordinance, Ordnance, overabundance, overconfidence, overdependence, overreliance, parlance, patience, penance, performance, permanence, persecutions, perseverance, persistence, pestilence, petulance, pittance, precedence, predominance, preeminence, preference, preponderance, prescience, presence, prevalence, prominence, protuberance, provenance, Providence, province, prudence, pseudoscience, radiance, reappearance, reassurance, recalcitrance, recognizance, recurrence, reemergence, reference, reinspections, reinsurance, relevance, reliance, reluctance, remembrance, remittance, repentance, resemblance, residence, resilience, resistance, resonance, resurgence, reverence, riddance, science, semblance, sentence, sequence, severance, significance, silence, submergence, subservience, subsidence, subsistence, substance, surveillance, sustenance, teleconference, temperance, tolerance, transcendence, transference, transience, turbulence, unbalance, utterance, Valence, variance, vehemence, vengeance, videoconference, vigilance, violence, virulence. |
| 6 | -l e" s u n s | convalescence, obsolescence. |
| 5 | -e" s u n s | acquiescence, essence, evanescence, luminescence, phosphorescence, quintessence, senescence. |
| 4 | -s u n s | absence, beneficence, innocence, licence, license, nuisance, reconnaissance, reminiscence, reticence. |
| 3 | -u n s | abeyance, abhorrence, abstinence, abundance, acceptance, accordance, acquaintance, adherence, admirations, admittance, affluence, allegiance, alliance, allowance, ambiance, ambience, ambivalence, ambulance, annoyance, appearance, appliance, arrogance, ascendance, assistance, assurance, attendance, audience, avoidance, balance, belligerence, benevolence, bioscience, brilliance, cadence, capacitance, chrominance, circumference, clairvoyance, Clarence, clearance, coexistence, cognizance, coherence, coincidence, coinsurance, comeuppance, competence, compliance, concurrence, condolence, conference, confidence, confluence, conformance, congruence, connivance, conscience, consequence, consistence, continuance, contrivance, convenience, convergence, conveyance, correspondence, countenance, counterbalance, counterintelligence, credence, dalliance, decadence, Defeasance, deference, defiance, deliverance, dependence, deterrence, deviance, difference, diligence, disallowance, disappearance, discontinuance, disobedience, dissidence, dissonance, distance, disturbance, divergence, dominance, ebullience, elegance, eloquence, emergence, eminence, endurance, entrance, equivalence, evidence, excellence, existence, expedience, experience, extravagance, exuberance, flamboyance, Florence, forbearance, fragrance, furtherance, governance, grievance, guidance, hindrance, ignorance, imbalance, immanence, imminence, impatience, impedance, importance, impotence, imprudence, inadvertence, incidence, incoherence, incompetence, incontinence, inconvenience, independence, indifference, inductance, indulgence, inexperience, inference, influence, inheritance, insignificance, insistence, insolence, instance, insurance, intelligence, interdependence, interference, intolerance, intransigence, invariance, irrelevance, irreverence, issuance, jurisprudence, luminance, maintenance, malfeasance, negligence, neuroscience, noncompliance, noninterference, nonviolence, obedience, observance, occurrence, omnipotence, omnipresence, opulence, ordinance, Ordnance, overabundance, overconfidence, overdependence, overreliance, parlance, patience, penance, performance, permanence, persecutions, perseverance, persistence, pestilence, petulance, pittance, precedence, predominance, preeminence, preference, preponderance, prescience, presence, prevalence, prominence, protuberance, provenance, Providence, province, prudence, pseudoscience, radiance, reappearance, reassurance, recalcitrance, recognizance, recurrence, reemergence, reference, reinspections, reinsurance, relevance, reliance, reluctance, remembrance, remittance, repentance, resemblance, residence, resilience, resistance, resonance, resurgence, reverence, riddance, science, semblance, sentence, sequence, severance, significance, silence, submergence, subservience, subsidence, subsistence, substance, surveillance, sustenance, teleconference, temperance, tolerance, transcendence, transference, transience, turbulence, unbalance, utterance, Valence, variance, vehemence, vengeance, videoconference, vigilance, violence, virulence. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-c-d-e-e-e-l-n-o-s" | |
-2 letters: coalesced, concealed. | |
-3 letters: cadences, canceled, celadons, cenacles, cleansed, coalesce, coleseed, conceals, concedes, enclosed. | |
-4 letters: accedes, acnodes, cadence, calends, cancels, candles, celadon, cenacle, cleaned, cleanse, coleads, conceal, concede, deacons, decanes, decease, elodeas, encased, enclose, encodes, enlaced, enlaces, enolase, needles, scalene, sconced, seconde, solaced. | |
-5 letters: accede, acnode, aldose, aneled, aneles, anodes, anoles, ascend, calces, cancel, candle, canoed, canoes, ceased, censed, clades, cleans, cloned, clones, closed, coaled, codecs, codens, colead, dances, deacon, decals, decane, donees, elands, elodea, encase, encode, enlace, ladens, lanced, lances, lanose, leaden, leaned, leased, lensed, leones, loaned, lodens, naleds, needle, oceans, scaled, sconce, sealed, seance, secede, second, seeled, sendal, seneca, solace, soland, soldan. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-c-d-e-e-e-l-n-o-s" | |
+1 letter: adolescences. | |
+3 letters: preadolescence. | |
+4 letters: preadolescences. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)41 64 6F 6C 65 73 63 65 6E 63 65 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).- -.. --- .-.. . ... -.-. . -. -.-. . |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000001 01100100 01101111 01101100 01100101 01110011 01100011 01100101 01101110 01100011 01100101 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)A d o l e s c e n c e |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0041 0064 006F 006C 0065 0073 0063 0065 006E 0063 0065 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)3570817871856971806971 |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Orthography 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
