junioradj.n.
/ˈdʒuːnɪə/, U.S. /ˈdʒunjər/ A. adj.
1. The younger: used after a person's name (†or title) to denote the younger of two bearing the same name in a family, esp. a son of the same name as his father; also (after a simple surname) the younger of two boys of the same surname in a school. Abbreviated jun., junr., or jr.
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the world > people > person > junior person > [adjective]
youngOE
youngerOE
puisne1565
minor1575
puny1579
junior1623
jun.1708
mi1791
Junr.1813
tertius1870
1409 Durham Acc. Roll in Eng. Hist. Rev. XIV. 528 Per manus Johannis Falderle Junioris.]
1623 in H. Cockeram Eng. Dict.
1691 London Gaz. No. 2669/4 Lost, a Note of Mr. Tho. Symonds junior's Hand for Mr. Tho. Symonds senior,..for 50l.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia Table 19 King of Bantam, Junior, espouses the Dutch Interest.
1708 London Gaz. No. 4475/4 Tho. Crabb, Sen. and Tho. Crabb, Jun. of Malborrow..Wooll-men.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby v. 39 Snawley, junior, if you don't leave off..shaking with the cold, I'll warm you with a severe thrashing.
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 259 The whole..are from the designs of James Rock, jun.
2. Of less standing or more recent appointment; of lower position, in a class, rank, profession, etc.In American colleges and schools. Belonging to the third year of the course, next below the senior or last year, or to the first or second year of a three-year course, or the first of a two-year course.
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society > authority > office > holder of office > [adjective] > subordinate
secondary1450
subordinatec1485
puny1579
sublunary1624
puisne1705
junior1766
1766 in B. Peirce Hist. Harvard Univ. (1833) 246 That the Senior Sophisters shall attend the Tutor A on Mondays...That the Junior Sophisters shall attend B on Mondays.
1810 Naval Chron. 24 41 His Majesty's ship Pompée (junior flag-ship).
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 309 The lord treasurer..had eight thousand a year, and..the junior lords had sixteen hundred a year each.
1870 M. Bridgman Robert Lynne I. ii. 12 From junior clerk, he worked his way up.
1871 M. Collins Marquis & Merchant I. ii. 56 The chief of the firm went on what is called the ‘junior partner’ principle. His clerks became in time his partners.
3. † a. Belonging to youth or earlier life; youthful, juvenile. Obsolete.
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the world > life > source or principle of life > age > youth > [adjective] > belonging to early part of life
younger1538
springing1556
youngest1570
junior1606
vernant1793
vernal1794
in bud1847
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 14 So shall his own Ambitious Courage bring For Crown a Coffin to our Iunior King.
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) ii. §8 Our first studies and junior endeavours may style us Peripateticks, Stoicks, or Academicks. View more context for this quotation
1706 Wooden World Diss. (1708) 37 One that in his Junior Days was brought up in the Fear of the Lord.
b. Designating something intended for children or young people; also applied to a product, device, etc., that is smaller than the normal size.
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the world > life > source or principle of life > age > youth > [adjective] > relating to or intended for youth
youthlyc900
youthful1561
youngthly1579
younkerly1579
youngling1582
juvenile1661
junior1860
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > small of its kind
demi1418
young1550
minikin1566
dwarf-like1582
diminutive1602
minitive?1602
diminute1611
pocket1621
Lilliputian1726
duodecimo1780
toy1821
minified1841
junior1860
toy-sized1861
Lilliput1867
toyish1871
mini1963
1860 (title) The junior atlas, for schools; fourteen maps selected from the college atlas.
1884 Chambers's Hist. Readers (title) Junior English history.
1941 Nashville Tennessean 12 Aug. 9 (advt.) Handyhot junior electric washer.
1948 (title) Oxford junior encyclopaedia.
1948 Tennessean Mag. (Nashville) 7 Nov. 23 The idea that ‘Junior is a size, not an age’, has been plugged with rather half-hearted vigor for several years..in clothes in the 9 to 17 size range.
1967 L. B. Archer in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 125 It will be an important design consideration to know whether the product is to be presented as one of a family of different products..and/or one of a family of similar products (standard, de luxe, junior, and portable models?).
1967 M. Drabble Jerusalem the Golden vii. 172 She had been in the afternoon to the chemist's to buy some Junior Aspirin.
1972 Pract. Motorist Oct. 212/1 A full-size hacksaw won't fit into the average tool box, nor will it work in tight corners. A ‘junior’ frame saw is a useful back-up, since it's small enough to travel with any tool kit.
4. Of later rise or appearance in history, of later date; more modern. Now rarely said of persons.
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the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > recency > [adjective] > more recent
junior1621
puny1628
puisne1655
low1897
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. iv. ii. ii. 456 [Hellebor] is still oppugned..by Crato and some Iunior Physitians.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe Pref. sig. ** There is yet a Fourth Atheistick Form taken notice of..though perhaps Junior to the rest, it seeming to be but the Corruption and Degeneration of Stoicism.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 85 Archestratus the Syracusian was junior to Plato.
1901 N.E.D. at Junior Mod. The Cretan civilization was apparently junior to that of the Nile valley.
5. Leather Manufacturing. Denoting the split taken from the flesh side of a hide.
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1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 392 All the large hides and sides of patent and enameled leather for harness and carriages are split goods... Three splits are frequently made, the first being taken from the flesh side, and termed ‘junior’.
1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 439 A flat split or ‘junior winker’ used by harness makers, is taken.
B. n.
1.
a. (the adjective used absol.) A person who is younger than another, or of more recent entrance or lower standing in a class, profession, etc.: see A. More generally (chiefly U.S.), a child, esp. a young boy: frequently with capital initial.
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the world > people > person > junior person > [noun]
youngestOE
youngerOE
youngerOE
juniora1530
young blood1557
puny1567
puisne1592
kid1690
minimus1848
baby1854
minor1864
society > authority > office > holder of office > [noun] > subordinate
minister1442
juniora1530
subminister1558
underhead1599
subalternal?1608
mainpernor1631
sub1653
subaltern1706
under-somethinga1718
underling1796
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [noun] > condition of being younger > person
juniora1530
a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. CCvi Of bysshops, doctours of the lawe & lerned men, of senyours and iunyours, of iewes and gentyles.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. i. 45 Our Continual Creation of new Souls, by means whereof they become Juniours both to the matter of the World and of their own Bodies.
1722 London Gaz. No. 6102/4 The Juniors went first.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. ix. 273 He was pointed out by the fathers of the convent to the juniors as a great example.
1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) i. ii. 9 At least in some, the juniors of the number.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. cii. 453 In an American college the students are classed by years, those of the first year being called freshmen, of the second year sophomores, of the third year juniors.
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 14 Dec. Lest the joy of Christmas be marred by..Junior's nipping his pal's arm with an arrow from his archery set, [etc.].
1951 O. Nash Family Reunion 31 But you take ingenuous Junior, and it's just a radio to him.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Jan. 25/6 (advt.) Enclosed is cheque..for..adults..and..juniors.
1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 230 If junior finds out that his parents are going out, he'll scream.
b. Preceded by possessive; cf. better n.1 2, elder n.3, inferior n., superior n. 2.
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1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xiv. 7 Doctours in any vniuersitie..Not one of them but he thynketh hymself to haue had a great iniurie doen vnto hym yf he go on the left hand of an other that semeth to be his iuniour or inferiour.
1676 Prideaux Lett. (Camden) 55 Christ Church is now altogether becom a stranger to you, we beeing al almost your juniors.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 413 Persons of Age and Authority spoke kindly to their Juniors.
1797 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) IV. 155 I am his junior in life, I was his junior in Congress, his junior in the diplomatic line, and lately his junior in our civil government.
1819 Ld. Byron Mazeppa iv. 168 His wife was not of his opinion—His junior she by thirty years.
c. Bridge. The player on the right of the declarer.
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1929 M. C. Work Compl. Contract Bridge Gloss.
2. A barrister who has not taken silk; a junior barrister.
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society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > counsellor, barrister, or advocate > junior counsel
devil1818
junior1837
stuff gownsman1852
stuff gown1867
stuff1889
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxiii. 353 Mr. Sergeant Buzfuz..leads on the other side. That gentleman behind him, is Mr. Skimpin, his junior.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. iii. 127 The counsel who interrogated the witness..was alone and had no ‘junior’.
1872 G. H. Lewes Let. 5 Jan. in ‘G. Eliot’ Lett. (1956) V. 234 We had..Bowen (the junior in the Tichborne case on whom Coleridge mainly relies),..and had..lots of fun.
1958 S. Hyland Who goes Hang? xlix. 260 Oliver Passmore K.C., M.P. And there was a ‘junior’ with him called Mortimer.
1972 ‘W. Haggard’ Protectors iii. 26 This barrister was..a strong Junior at the criminal bar, and he'd defended Martiny's friend.
Special uses
Special collocations.
junior college n. (in U.S.), ‘a college, operating as a separate institution or as part of a standard college, which does not offer courses more advanced than those of the sophomore year’ (D.A.E.); also, a similar institution in Britain and elsewhere.
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society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > college > other colleges
agricultural college1778
state college1806
ladies' college1835
fem sem1842
junior college1899
ag1905
correspondence college1911
Aggie1920
seven sisters1927
juku1962
sixth-form college1965
1899 Univ. Chicago Reg. 1898–9 37/1 The Faculties of the Schools of Arts, Literature, and Science have been organized as follows; (1) The Faculty of the Junior Colleges; [etc.].
1919 F. M. McDowell (title) The Junior College.
1924 L. V. Koos (title) Administration of Secondary School Units, The Junior High School, The Junior College.
1929 Encycl. Brit. VII. 973/2 The end of the junior college period marks the completion of general education of a secondary character and the beginning of university specialization.
1949 Manch. Guardian Weekly 7 Apr. 8 You will not learn what are the ambitions of the students at a junior college.
1957 Encycl. Brit. XX. 258/1 Some schools extended secondary education upward by offering two years of additional work of ‘junior college’ type.
1963 Higher Educ.: Rep. Comm. under Ld. Robbins 148 in Parl. Papers 1962–3 (Cmnd. 2154) XI. 639 Other witnesses..advocated the creation of separate junior or preparatory colleges to undertake the later stages of sixth form work and the first year of university work.
1971 Eng. Stud. 52 569 The action..takes place in a classroom of a Southern Californian junior college.
junior common room n. chiefly British a common room in a college used by undergraduate students; undergraduate students collectively; abbreviated JCR.
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1774 J. Woodforde Diary 6 Dec. (1924) I. 142 I..went with Master into the Junr Common Room and canvassed that.
1823 T. De Quincey Lett. Young Man in London Mag. Mar. 327/1 Cases..where a particular study..was pursued throughout a whole college,—simply because a man of talents had talked of it in the junior common-room.
2016 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 18 Jan. The Junior Common Room and the College will consider together whether or not to rename the room.
junior high n. (also junior high school) (North American), a school intermediate between elementary school and high school.
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society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > intermediate school
middle school1838
middle-class school1839
junior high1909
1909 Ann. Rep. Bd. Educ. (Columbus, Ohio) 168 The Board has declared itself in favour of the Junior High School System.
a1920 A. A. Douglass (title) The Junior High School.
1920 P. A. Boyer Adjustm. School 115 The underlying philosophy of the Junior High School movement rests in the attempt to meet the needs, capacities and interests of pupils of the early adolescent period.
1929 Encycl. Brit. XX. 258/1 The junior high school has also been a vehicle for innovations in teaching methods.
1948 Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 12 Oct. 10/1 They met in the ninth grade in junior high.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 30/2 (advt.) Convenient to public, junior high and separate schools.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 33/6 (advt.) Experienced Junior High, social studies and science teacher required.
junior miss n. (originally U.S.), a young teen-aged girl; = miss n.2 4a; also attributive.
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the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]
daughterOE
maidenOE
young womanOE
mayc1175
burdc1225
maidc1275
wenchc1290
file1303
virginc1330
girla1375
damselc1380
young ladya1393
jilla1425
juvenclec1430
young person1438
domicellea1464
quean1488
trull1525
pulleta1533
Tib1533
kittyc1560
dell1567
gillian1573
nymph1584
winklota1586
frotion1587
yuffrouw1589
pigeon1592
tit1599
nannicock1600
muggle1608
gixy1611
infanta1611
dilla1627
tittiea1628
whimsy1631
ladykin1632
stammel1639
moggie1648
zitellaa1660
baggagea1668
miss1668
baby1684
burdie1718
demoiselle1720
queanie?1800
intombi1809
muchacha1811
jilt1816
titter1819
ragazza1827
gouge1828
craft1829
meisie1838
sheila1839
sixteenc1840
chica1843
femme1846
muffin1854
gel1857
quail1859
kitten1870
bud1880
fräulein1883
sub-debutante1887
sweet-and-twenty1887
flapper1888
jelly1889
queen1894
chick1899
pusher1902
bit of fluff1903
chicklet1905
twist and twirl1905
twist1906
head1913
sub-deb1916
tabby1916
mouse1917
tittie1918
chickie1919
wren1920
bim1922
nifty1923
quiff1923
wimp1923
bride1924
job1927
junior miss1927
hag1932
tab1932
sort1933
palone1934
brush1941
knitting1943
teenybopper1966
weeny-bopper1972
Valley Girl1982
1927 Vogue (U.S. ed.) 15 Jan. 106/2 Junior Misses' Frock.
1950 M. Allingham Take Two at Bedtime 17 I was still wearing the junior-miss dresses I had had at school.
1965 Harper's Bazaar May 75 Both dresses £1 19s. 11d. by Marks & Spencer Junior Miss.
junior school n. (a) in the state educational system, a school for children aged roughly between 7 and 11; a primary school; (b) the lower forms of some fee-paying schools.
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society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > primary school
under-school1629
primer schoola1680
proseminary1774
primary school1792
dame-schoola1817
pettya1827
ma'am-school1838
elementary school1841
primary1851
prep school1862
minding-school1864
junior school1871
tother school1881
marm school1889
preparatory1904
terakoya1909
prep1924
prepper1956
1871 Minutes of School Board for London I. 156 Public elementary day schools are conveniently classfied into infant schools, for children below seven years of age; junior schools, for children between seven and ten years of age; and senior schools, for older children.
1902 Captain 7 221/1 Workington passed out of the Junior school.
1928 Hadow Rep. & After 58 The position in a junior school which receives all its pupils at 7 plus and loses them at 11 plus will be one of some difficulty.
1931 Educ. Outlook June 196/1 It is desirable that the function of the junior school be very clearly realised,..i.e. of bridging the gap between the infants' department and the senior school.
1971 Times Educ. Suppl. 5 Feb. 41/4 (advt.) Small groups of immigrant pupils in Junior Schools, who need additional language instruction.
junior service n. the Army.
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1915 E. Wallace Man who bought London viii. 81 She had a son in the army, and she bore the junior service a grudge in consequence.
junior stock n. (see quot. 1914).
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society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > stock > bought, sold, or dealt on particular terms
bear1709
bull1714
bearskin1719
trust stock1733
preference stock1845
preferred stock1848
trustee stock1855
short1868
privileged stock1875
future1880
junior stock1914
curb-stocks1915
long1930
junk bond1974
1914 H. Halford Dict. Stock Market Terms 50 Junior stocks, ordinary and deferred stocks ranking for dividend after debentures and preference stocks.
1932 Daily Tel. 8 Oct. 2/4 The current quotations of the junior stocks remove the likelihood of an issue in that form.
junior technical school n. a school providing a technical and secondary education for boys.
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society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > technical school
school (also college) of industry1695
working school1695
technical school1824
polytechnic1836
junior technical school1929
1929 Encycl. Brit. VII. 988/2 Its lower grades have shown a considerable increase, whether in junior technical schools, art schools or evening classes.
1931 Educ. Outlook June 183/1 Its pupils [sc. of the new senior school] are distinguished from their contemporaries in grammar schools, modern schools, and junior technical schools.
Compounds
junior-right n. Borough-English.
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society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > [noun] > hereditary > right of youngest
Borough-English1327
borough-kind1577
borough-tenurea1670
juniority1882
junior-right1882
ultimogeniture1882
1882 C. Elton Orig. Eng. Hist. viii. 185 Junior-right..has flourished not only in England..but also in some remote and disconnected regions.
1882 C. Elton Orig. Eng. Hist. viii. 185 We have a choice between ‘ultimogeniture’..or one must coin a new phrase, like juniority or junior-right.
Draft additions August 2007
junior kindergarten n. North American Education (now chiefly Canadian) an introductory level of kindergarten, now usually the first of two kindergarten grades (cf. senior kindergarten n. at senior adj. and n. Additions).
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1901 Los Angeles Times 2 June iii. 3/3 The junior kindergarten class of the State Normal School..was entertained by Miss Hagan.
1948 Winnipeg Free Press 10 Mar. 1/1 The lack of junior kindergarten facilities in Winnipeg.
2005 Today's Parent (Electronic ed.) Sept. 147 They went to a preschool at age three, junior kindergarten at age four and entered French immersion senior kindergarten (at a different school).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1530