adolescence
nounCA, US, UK /ˌædəˈlɛsəns/ · AU /ˌædəˈlesəns/
Etymology From Middle English adolescence, from Old French adolescence, from Latin adolēscentia, from adolēscēns (“young”); see adolescent.
1
The transitional period of physical and psychological development between childhood and maturity, beginning at the onset of puberty and with an endpoint defined either legally (at the age of majority, such as 18 in many jurisdictions) or psychocognitively (at various ages, depending on individual experience).
- Near-synonyms: teenagehood, teenhood, teenagerhood, teenagedom, teenagerdom, teendom
- During adolescence, the body and mind go through many complex changes, some of which are difficult to deal with.
1 more example
- So lawyers started filing separate asylum requests for the children, arguing that reintegrating in countries they barely knew, after spending their childhood or adolescence in Belgium, would not only be impossible but would expose them to serious risks.2020 August 5, Francesca Spinelli, “Meet David: born in France, raised in Belgium, facing removal to the DRC”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 05 Jan 2021:
- Derived terms
- middlescence, postadolescence, preadolescence
- Related terms
- adolescent