adolescence
/adəˈlɛs(ə)ns
/noun [mass noun]
The period following the onset of puberty during which a young person develops from a child into an adult: Mary spent her childhood and adolescence in Europe during adolescence teenagers often experience violent mood swings...
- Childhood and adolescence are essential periods of your life in which to learn the importance of physical activity.
- Young people who need ongoing specialist care beyond adolescence must transfer to adult services.
- Jenny's adolescence and adult life are, from the outside, quite ordinary.
Synonyms
teenage years, teens, youth, young adulthood, young days, early life;
pubescence, puberty
rare juvenescence, juvenility
Origin
Late Middle English: from French, from Latin adolescentia, from adolescere 'grow to maturity' (see adolescent).