young personn.
/ˌjʌŋ ˈpəːsn/, U.S. /ˌjəŋ ˈpərs(ə)n/ A young man or woman; spec. a person who is no longer considered a child, but has not reached the age of majority.Variously interpreted in legal contexts at different times and in different places.In the 19th and early 20th cent. frequently used of a young woman, in order to avoid the connotations of social class implicit in the use of ‘girl’, ‘woman’, or ‘lady’ (see notes at girl n. 2b, lady n. 5a, woman n. 7).
ΘΠ
the world > people > person > young person > [noun]
youngeOE
younglingOE
girlc1300
youtha1325
young onec1384
birdc1405
young person1438
young blood1557
primrosea1568
slip1582
juvenal1598
quat1607
airling1611
egga1616
saplinga1616
chita1657
a slip of a girla1660
juvenile1733
young adult1762
boots1806
snip1838
spring chicken1857
yob1859
kid1884
chiseller1922
juvenile adult1926
YA1974
yoof1986
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
1438 in J. H. Fisher et al. Anthol. Chancery Eng. (1984) 176 Scolemaistres..suffisant to enforme yonge persones in there Gramer.
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) ii. f. ccxl/2 Thenne came therby yt morowe next thoos yong persones to whome she had promysed that she sholde do so moche yt he sholde synne with her flesshly.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Judith vii. 12 Then came the men and women, yonge personnes and children all vnto Osias.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iv. xix. f. 159v That mariages made beetwene yong persones without consent of their parentes, shoulde remayne of force and stablished.
1615 N. Byfield Expos. Epist. Coloss. 126 Sometimes this rage in young persons is not to bee cooled but with bloud as in Caine.
1675 W. Wycherley Country-wife v. 92 We take freedom from a young person as a sign of good breeding.
1743 J. Morris Serm. vii. 181 Highly criminal in young persons.
1793 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 69. 548 There lived a young person at Loudun from whom he could not resolve to be separated.
1820 W. Scott Monastery II. iv. 161 There be some flashes of martial spirit about this young person.
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 281 ‘Young persons’ have been defined to be males and females from thirteen to eighteen years of age.
1885 W. S. Gilbert Mikado i They are not young ladies, they are young persons.
1918 Act 8 & 9 Geo. V c. 39. §48 The expression ‘young person’ means a person under eighteen years of age who is no longer a child.
1943 I. Spafford Building Curriculum for Gen. Educ. xi. 169 A young person of either sex studied in relation to his or her fiancé and their plans for marriage.
2002 Oldie June 28/1 There is something monstrous about a young person cut down on the very threshold of life.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1438