youth

English

Alternative forms

• yought, youthe (both obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English youthe, youghte, ȝouþe, from Old English ġeoguþ (“the state of being young; youth”), from Proto-West Germanic *juwunþa, from Proto-Germanic *jugunþō, *jugunþiz (“youth”), corresponding to young +‎ -th. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Juugd, West Frisian jeugd, Dutch jeugd, German Low German Jöögd, German Jugend.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /juːθ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /juθ/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (UK, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /jʉːθ/, [jʉθ]
• Rhymes: -uːθ

Noun

youth (countable and uncountable, plural youths)

1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being young.
   • 1910, Emerson Hough, “The Purchase Price”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.

   • 1936 Feb. 15, Ernest Hemingway, letter to Maxwell Perkins:

     Feel awfully about Scott... It was a terrible thing for him to love youth so much that he jumped straight from youth to senility without going through manhood. The minute he felt youth going he was frightened again and thought there was nothing between youth and age.

   Synonyms: juvenility, youngness, (archaic) youngth, youthfulness

   Antonyms: age, dotage, old age, senility

   Her youth and beauty attracted him to her.

2. (uncountable) The part of life following childhood; the period of existence preceding maturity or age; the whole early part of life, from childhood, or, sometimes, from infancy, to adulthood.

   Make the most of your youth, it will not last forever.

   I made many mistakes in my youth, but learned from them all.

   • 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section I, page 35:

     I don't find the pose of careless youth charming and engaging any more than you find the pose of careworn age fascinating and eccentric, I should imagine.

   • 2013 January, Brian Hayes, “Father of Fractals”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, page 62:

     Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid.

3. (countable) A young person.

   Synonyms: adolescent, child, kid, lad, teen, teenager, youngster

   Antonyms: adult, grown-up

   There was a group of youths hanging around the parking lot, reading fashion magazines and listening to music.

4. (countable) A young man; a male adolescent or young adult.

   Synonyms: boy, young man

   • 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC, pages 274–275:

     […] and then a youth appeared—no one quite knew where from or to whom he belonged—but he settled down with them in a happy-go-lucky way, and they all lived together.

5. (uncountable, used with a plural or singular verb) Young persons, collectively.

   Synonyms: adolescents, kids, teenagers, teens, young people, youngsters

Derived terms

• fountain of youth
• hilltop youth
• in the flower of one's youth
• middle youth, mid youth
• yoof
• youth academy
• youth bulge
• youth center
• youth centre
• youth-centric
• youth club
• youth court
• youth crew
• youth crime
• youth culture
• youth custody centre
• youth detention center
• youth detention centre
• youthful
• youth group
• youth hostel
• youth is wasted on the young
• youthly
• youth movement
• youth-on-age
• youth organization
• youthwards
• youth work
• youth worker
• youthy

 

Related terms

• young

Translations

quality or state of being young

• Afrikaans: jeug
• Albanian: rinia (sq)
• Arabic: شَبَاب m (šabāb)

  Egyptian Arabic: شباب m (šabāb)

• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܛܰܠܝܽܘܬ݂ܳܐ f (ṭalyūṯāʾ)

• Armenian: երիտասարդություն (hy) (eritasardutʻyun)
• Aromanian: giunatic n, giuneatsã f, tinireatsã f
• Assamese: ডেকাকাল m (dekakal)
• Asturian: xuventú f
• Azerbaijani: gənclik (az), cavanlıq
• Basque: gaztetasun
• Belarusian: маладо́сць f (maladóscʹ), юна́цтва n (junáctva), ю́насць f (júnascʹ)
• Bengali: যৌবন (bn) (jōubon)
• Bulgarian: мла́дост (bg) f (mládost)
• Catalan: joventut (ca) f, (figuratively) abril (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 青春 (cing¹ ceon¹)

  Mandarin: 青春 (zh) (qīngchūn)

• Czech: mládí (cs) n
• Dutch: jeugd (nl) c
• Esperanto: juneco
• Fijian: cauravou (fj)
• Finnish: nuoruus (fi)
• French: jeunesse (fr) f
• Friulian: zoventût f, ğoventût f
• Galician: xuventude (gl) f, mocidade (gl) f
• Georgian: ახალგაზრდობა (ka) (axalgazrdoba), ახალგაზრდულობა (axalgazrduloba)
• German: Jugend (de) f, Jugendlichkeit (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌾𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰 f (junda)
• Greek: νεότητα (el) f (neótita)

  Ancient: νεότης f (neótēs), ἥβη f (hḗbē)

• Hebrew: נְעוּרִים (he) m pl (ne'urím)
• Hindi: जवानी (hi) f (javānī), यौवन (hi) m (yauvan), युवावस्था f (yuvāvasthā)
• Hungarian: fiatalság (hu)
• Icelandic: æska f, ungdæmi (is) n
• Ido: yuneso (io)
• Ingrian: noorus
• Irish: óige f, macaomhacht f
• Italian: gioventù (it) f, giovinezza (it)
• Japanese: 若々しさ (わかわかしさ, wakawakashisa), 未熟さ (みじゅくさ, mijukusa), 青春 (ja) (せいしゅん, seishun), 若さ (ja) (わかさ, wakasa)
• Javanese: kanoman (jv)
• Kabuverdianu: mosindadi
• Khmer: យុវវ័យ (yuvĕəʼvɨy)
• Korean: 젊음 (ko) (jeolmeum), 청춘 (ko) (cheongchun)
• Ladin: junëza f
• Ladino: jyovintud f (גﬞובﬞינטוד)
• Latin: iuventās f, iuventūs f, iuvenilitas f
• Latvian: jaunība f
• Macedonian: мла́дост f (mládost), мла́дина f (mládina)
• Malayalam: യുവത്വം (ml) (yuvatvaṁ)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Middle English: youthe, youthhede
• Mongolian: залуу (mn) (zaluu)
• Norwegian: ungdom (no) m
• Occitan: joventut (oc) f
• Old Norse: ǿska f
• Persian: جوانی (fa) (javâni)
• Polish: młodość (pl) f
• Portuguese: juventude (pt) f
• Romanian: tinerețe (ro) f, (archaic) junime (ro) f
• Romansch: giuventetgna f, giuventetna f, giuventüna f
• Russian: ю́ность (ru) f (júnostʹ), мо́лодость (ru) f (mólodostʹ)
• Sardinian: gioventura f, ciuintura f, giuventura f, zoventura f, gioventudi
• Scottish Gaelic: òige f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мла̏до̄ст f

  Roman: mlȁdōst (sh) f

• Sicilian: picciottu (scn) m, giuvintuti (scn) f, giuvintù (scn) f
• Slovak: mladosť f
• Slovene: mladost (sl) f
• Spanish: juventud (es) f
• Swahili: ujana (sw)
• Swedish: ungdom (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠎꠥꠀꠘꠤ (zuani)
• Telugu: యౌవనము (te) (yauvanamu)
• Thai: วัยหนุ่มสาว (wainùmsăao)
• Turkish: gençlik (tr)
• Ukrainian: мо́лодість f (mólodistʹ), ю́ність (uk) f (júnistʹ), юна́цтво (uk) n (junáctvo)
• Urdu: جوانی f (javānī)
• Venetan: zoventù, xoventù
• Vietnamese: tuổi trẻ (vi)
• Yiddish: יוגנט (yugnt)

part of life following childhood

• Arabic: شباب m (šabāb), صبا m (ṣibā)

  Egyptian Arabic: شباب m (šabāb)

• Armenian: երիտասարդություն (hy) (eritasardutʻyun), պատանեկություն (hy) (patanekutʻyun)
• Asturian: xuventú f
• Azerbaijani: gənclik (az), cavanlıq
• Basque: gaztaro
• Bulgarian: мла́дост (bg) f (mládost), младини (bg) pl (mladini)
• Catalan: joventut (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 芳華／芳华 (zh) (fānghuá), 青年時期／青年时期 (qīngnián shíqí), 青春 (zh) (qīngchūn), 華年／华年 (zh) (huánián), 英年 (zh) (yīngnián)

• Czech: mládí (cs) n
• Dutch: jeugd (nl) f
• Esperanto: junaĝo
• Finnish: nuoruus (fi), nuoruusikä
• French: jeunesse (fr) f
• Friulian: zoventût f, ğoventût f
• Galician: xuventude (gl) f
• Georgian: ახალგაზრდობა (ka) (axalgazrdoba), სიყმაწვილე (siq̇mac̣vile)
• German: Jugend (de) f, Jugendzeit (de) f
• Greek: νιάτα (el) n pl (niáta)
• Hindi: यौवन (hi) m (yauvan), किशोरावस्था m (kiśorāvasthā)
• Hungarian: fiatalkor (hu), ifjúság (hu), (adolescence) serdülőkor (hu), kamaszkor (hu)
• Ingrian: noorus
• Irish: giollacht f, macaomhacht f
• Italian: giovinezza (it) f
• Japanese: 青春時代 (せいしゅんじだい, seishun jidai)
• Latin: iuventās f
• Latvian: jaunība f
• Malayalam: യൗവനം (ml) (yauvanaṁ)
• Maori: taiohinga, itinga, whanaketanga, tuaititanga, ohinga
• Middle English: youthe, youthhede
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ungdomstid m or f

  Nynorsk: ungdomstid f

• Polish: młodość (pl) f
• Portuguese: infância (pt) f
• Romanian: tinerețe (ro) f
• Russian: мо́лодость (ru) f (mólodostʹ), ю́ность (ru) f (júnostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: òige f, òigeachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мла̏до̄ст f

  Roman: mlȁdōst (sh) f

• Slovene: mladost (sl) f
• Spanish: juventud (es) f, adolescencia (es) f, mocedad (es) f, años mozos (colloquial)
• Swedish: ungdom (sv) c
• Telugu: యౌవనము (te) (yauvanamu)
• Turkish: gençlik (tr)
• Ukrainian: мо́лодість f (mólodistʹ), ю́ність (uk) f (júnistʹ), юна́цтво (uk) n (junáctvo)

young person

• Arabic: شاب m (šāb)

  Egyptian Arabic: شب m (šab)

• Aromanian: gioni m, gione m
• Assamese: ডেকা m (deka), ডেকেৰী f (dekeri), গভুৰা m (gobhura), গাভৰু f (gabhoru)
• Asturian: xoven (ast) m or f
• Azerbaijani: gənc (az)
• Basque: gazte
• Belarusian: малады́ чалаве́к m (maladý čalavjék)
• Bengali: যুবক (bn) (jubok), যুবতী (bn) (juboti)
• Bulgarian: млад чове́к m (mlad čovék), младе́ж (bg) m (mladéž)
• Burmese: လူငယ် (my) (lu-ngai)
• Catalan: jove (ca) m or f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 後生仔／后生仔 (hau⁶ saang¹ zai²)

  Mandarin: 青年人 (zh) (qīngniánrén), 年輕人／年轻人 (zh) (niánqīngrén)

• Cornish: yonker m, yonkores f
• Czech: mladistvý (cs)
• Esperanto: junulo
• Estonian: noor (et)
• Finnish: nuori (fi)
• French: jeune (fr) m or f
• Galician: xuventude (gl) m or f, mozo (gl) m, novo (gl) m
• Georgian: ახალგაზრდა (axalgazrda)
• German: Jugendlicher (de) m, Jugendliche (de) f
• Hebrew: נַעַר (he) (ná'ar)
• Hindi: जवान (hi) m (javān), नौजवान (hi) m (naujvān), युवक (hi) m (yuvak), युवती f (yuvtī)
• Hungarian: fiatal (hu), ifjú (hu)
• Ido: yuno (io), yuneso (io)
• Indonesian: pemuda (id)
• Ingrian: noori
• Irish: aosánach m, boiteallach m, fleascach m, óg (ga) m
• Italian: giovane (it) m
• Japanese: 若者 (ja), わかもの (ja) (wakamono), 青少年 (ja) (せいしょうねん, seishōnen), 若年 (ja) (jakunen)
• Korean: 젊은이 (ko) (jeolmeuni), 청년 (ko) (cheongnyeon)
• Latin: iuvenis (la) m or f
• Latvian: jaunietis m, jauniete f
• Macedonian: млад чо́век m (mlad čóvek)
• Manchu: ᠠᠰᡳᡥᠠᡨᠠ (asihata)
• Maori: rangatahi, taiohi, māitiiti, kōhī, taitāhae
• Middle English: youthe
• Ngazidja Comorian: shaɓaɓi
• Norwegian: ungdom (no) m
• Polish: młody człowiek m, młodzieniec (pl) m
• Portuguese: jovem (pt) m or f, moço (pt)
• Romanian: tânăr (ro) m, tânără (ro) f, adolescent (ro) m, adolescentă (ro) f
• Russian: молодо́й челове́к (ru) m (molodój čelovék)
• Scottish Gaelic: òigear m
• Spanish: joven (es) m or f, adolescente (es) m or f, mozo (es) m, moza (es) f, mancebo (es) m, zagal
• Swahili: kijana (sw)
• Swedish: ungdom (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠎꠥꠀꠘ (zuan)
• Taos: ȕłęłęʼéna
• Telugu: యువకుడు (te) m (yuvakuḍu), యువతి (te) m (yuvati)
• Thai: คนหนุ่มสาว
• Turkish: genç (tr)
• Ukrainian: молода́ люди́на f (molodá ljudýna)
• Urdu: جوان m (javān)
• Volapük: yunan (vo)
• White Hmong: hluas
• Wolof: ndaw (wo)

young man

• Akkadian: 𒇽𒄨 (eṭlu, LÚ.GURUŠ), 𒄨 (eṭlu, GURUŠ), 𒂄 (eṭlu, ŠUL)
• Arabic: شَابّ m (šābb)

  Egyptian Arabic: شب m (šab)

• Aromanian: gioni m, gione m
• Belarusian: юна́к m (junák), малады́ чалаве́к m (maladý čalavjék), хло́пец m (xlópjec)
• Bulgarian: младе́ж (bg) m (mladéž), мо́мък (bg) m (mómǎk), ю́ноша (bg) m (júnoša), млад чове́к m (mlad čovék)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 青年 (zh) (qīngnián)

• Cornish: yonker m
• Czech: mladík (cs) m
• Danish: yngling
• Dutch: jongeman (nl) m
• Egyptian: (rnp), (ḥwn), (šr)
• Esperanto: junulo, knabo (eo), junuliĉo
• Finnish: nuorukainen (fi), nuorimies (fi)
• French: jeune (fr) m, jeune homme (fr) m
• Galician: rapaz (gl) m, mozo (gl) m, novo (gl) m
• Georgian: ყმაწვილი (q̇mac̣vili), ჭაბუკი (ka) (č̣abuḳi)
• German: Heranwachsender (de) m, junger Mann m, Jugendlicher (de) m, Halbwüchsiger m
• Gothic: 𐌾𐌿𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 m (juggalauþs)
• Greek: νιος (el) m (nios)

  Ancient: νεανίας m (neanías), νεανίσκος m (neanískos)

• Hebrew: בָּחוּר (he) m (bakhúr)
• Hindi: युवक (hi) m (yuvak)
• Hungarian: fiatalember (hu), fiatalúr (hu), legény (hu)
• Ido: yunulo (io)
• Irish: giolla m, stócach m, coileán m, macaomh m, ógánach m, ógbhaidh f (youths), ógra m (youths), scorach m, ógfhear m
• Italian: giovane (it) m, giovanotto (it) m, ragazzo (it) m
• Japanese: 若い人たち (わかいひと, wakai hito), 若者 (ja) (わかもの, wakamono), 青年 (ja) (seinen)
• Korean: 청년 (ko) (cheongnyeon)
• Latin: iuvenis (la) c, catulaster m
• Latvian: jaunietis m
• Macedonian: мо́мок m (mómok)
• Maltese: ġuvni m, ġuvintur m pl
• Mongolian: залуу (mn) (zaluu)
• Navajo: dinééh
• Northern Ohlone: kót̄so
• Norwegian: yngling (no)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: юноша m (junoša)

• Old East Slavic: уноша m (unoša)
• Old Occitan: joven
• Ossetian: лӕппу (læppu), тырын (tyryn)
• Ottoman Turkish: اوشاق (uşak)
• Plautdietsch: Benjel m
• Polish: młodzieniec (pl) m, chłopak (pl) m
• Pontic Greek: παλληκάρι n (pallikári)
• Portuguese: rapaz (pt) m, moço (pt) m, jovem (pt) m
• Romanian: tânăr (ro) m, flăcău (ro) m, june (ro) m
• Russian: ю́ноша (ru) m (júnoša), молодо́й челове́к (ru) m (molodój čelovék), па́рень (ru) m (párenʹ)
• Sanskrit: युवन् (sa) m (yuvan)
• Scottish Gaelic: gille (gd) m, òganach m, ògan m, òglach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мо̀мак m

  Roman: mòmak (sh) m

• Slovak: mladík m, mládenec m
• Slovene: mladenič m
• Spanish: joven (es) m or f, adolescente (es) m or f, mozo (es) m, mancebo (es) m
• Swahili: kijana (sw)
• Swedish: yngling (sv) c, ung man c
• Telugu: కుర్రవాడు (te) (kurravāḍu)
• Tocharian B: kālyśke
• Turkish: delikanlı (tr)
• Ukrainian: юна́к (uk) m (junák), па́рубок (uk) m (párubok), хло́пець (uk) m (xlópecʹ)
• Vietnamese: thanh niên (vi) (青年)
• Welsh: llanc m
• Wolof: ndaw (wo)
• Yámana: wanleiwa
• Yiddish: יונגער־מאַן m (yunger-man), בחור m (bokher)

young persons, collectively

• Arabic: شباب m pl (šabāb)

  Egyptian Arabic: شباب m pl (šabāb)

• Asturian: xuventú f
• Basque: gazteria (eu)
• Belarusian: маладзёж f (maladzjóž), мо́ладзь f (móladzʹ)
• Bulgarian: младе́ж (bg) f (mladéž)
• Catalan: joventut (ca) f, jovent (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 青年 (zh) (qīngnián)

• Cornish: yowynkneth f
• Czech: mládež (cs) f
• Dutch: jeugd (nl) f
• Esperanto: junaro, junularo
• Fijian: cauravou (fj)
• Finnish: nuoriso (fi), nuoret (fi) pl
• French: jeunesse (fr) f, les jeunes m pl
• Galician: xuventude (gl) f, mocidade (gl) f, mozarría f, mozos m pl, novos m pl, xente nova f
• Georgian: ახალგაზრდობა (ka) (axalgazrdoba)
• German: Jugend (de) f, Jugendliche (de) pl
• Greek: νεολαία (el) f (neolaía)
• Hebrew: נוֹעַר / נֹעַר (he) m (nó'ar)
• Hindi: युवा (hi) (yuvā), युवक (hi) m (yuvak), युवती f (yuvtī)
• Hungarian: fiatalok (hu) pl, fiatalság (hu) sg
• Ido: yunaro (io)
• Ingrian: nooristo
• Irish: óige f
• Italian: gioventù (it) f, i giovane m pl
• Japanese: 若い人たち (わかいひとたち, wakai hitotachi)
• Kabuverdianu: mosindadi
• Kazakh: жастар pl (jastar)
• Korean: 젊은 사람 (jeolmeun saram)
• Latvian: jaunatne f
• Macedonian: младеж m (mladež)
• Maori: matatahi, rangatahi
• Polish: młodzież (pl) f
• Portuguese: jovens (pt) m or f or pl
• Romanian: tineret (ro) n, tinerime (ro) f
• Russian: молодёжь (ru) f (molodjóžʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: òigridh f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̀младина f, мла̏деж m

  Roman: òmladina (sh) f, mlȁdež (sh) m

• Slovak: mládež f
• Slovene: mladi m pl, mladež f
• Spanish: juventud (es) f
• Swahili: kijana (sw)
• Swedish: ungdom (sv) c
• Telugu: యువత (te) (yuvata)
• Thai: คนหนุ่มคนสาว, คนหนุ่มสาว
• Turkish: gençlik (tr)
• Ukrainian: мо́лодіж f (mólodiž), мо́лодь (uk) f (mólodʹ), юна́цтво (uk) n (junáctvo), ю́ність (uk) f (júnistʹ)
• Vietnamese: thanh niên (vi) (青年), giới trẻ
• Wolof: ndaw (wo)
• Yiddish: יוגנט f (yugnt)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• West Frisian: ^{(please verify)} jonkheid

References

• “youth”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• youth in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “youth”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Further reading

• youth on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• youth on Wikiquote.Wikiquote

Anagrams

• Tuohy

Middle English

Noun

youth

1. (Late Middle English) Alternative form of youthe