adolescent (English)
Where does "adolescent" come from?
The word adolescent traces back to the Latin term adolescens, which describes the process of growing up. This originates from the verb adolēscere, a combination of roots meaning 'to grow' or 'to become nourished,' which emphasizes the developmental nature of the teenage years. After entering Middle French, it reached Middle English in the 15th century before eventually broadening its use to describe the stage of life between childhood and adulthood.
Full etymology tree
- adolescent (English), 'Of, relating to, or at the age of adolescence; at the stage between being a child and an adult.'
- inherited adolescent (Middle English)
- learned borrowing adolescentem (Latin), 'accusative masculine/feminine singular of adolēscēns'
- inherited adolescens (Latin), 'growing up, maturing'
- deverbal adolēscere (Latin), 'present active infinitive of adolēscō'
- compound ad- (Latin), 'to'
- compound alēscere (Latin), 'present active infinitive of alēscō'
- deverbal adolēscere (Latin), 'present active infinitive of adolēscō'
- inherited adolescens (Latin), 'growing up, maturing'
- learned borrowing adolescentem (Latin), 'accusative masculine/feminine singular of adolēscēns'
- inherited adolescent (Middle English)
Direct ancestors
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris