Juvenile Meaning
/ˈd͡ʒuːvənaɪl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjYoung; not fully developed.
adjCharacteristic of youth or immaturity; childish.
Sentence Examples
Recently juvenile delinquency has been on the rise.
The juvenile crimes are increasing recently.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ offender was tried in a court for minors rather than adults.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ court handles cases involving young people who are under the age of eighteen years old today.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin iuvenīlis (“youthful; juvenile”), from iuvenis (“young; a youth”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a relationship or a pertaining to). Iuvenis is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”), from *h₂óyu (“long life; lifetime”) (from *h₂ey- (“age; life”)) + *h₁én (“in”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There are certain Climates, where the Mind ripens and attains ſooner to Perfection than in others: nay there are ſome Conſtitutions of Body, where the humours are ſo exactly mixt, that they form an admirable Temper; the Effects thereof are diſcoverable in the firſt Juvenile Years, and leave very fine Remains, even in a decrepit Age."
— [1716], [Abraham] de Wicquefort, “What Age is Proper for an Embassador”, in [John] Digby, transl., The Embassador and His Functions. […], London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, […], →OCLC, page 54, column 1:
"We should then be able to count on the labours of fifty thousand juvenile home missionaries, and the next generation would be able to speak from a happier experience than we, of "times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord."—From the Canada Sunday School Record."
— 1845 November, “How Boys and Girls may be Missionaries”, in The Juvenile Missionary Herald, volume III, London: Printed for and published by the Baptist Missionary Society, and sold by Houlston and Stoneman, […], →OCLC, page 257:
"When juvenile offenders are spoken of, young thieves are usually intended; for an examination of the annals of crime will show that varied as are the offences of adults, those for which children are arraigned in a criminal court are almost invariably thefts more or less trivial; […]"
— 1853, Mary Carpenter, “Characteristics and Classes”, in Juvenile Delinquents, Their Condition and Treatment, London: W. & F. G. Cash, (successors to C. Gilpin,) […], →OCLC, page 17:
"[T]he juvenile justice system became firmly established as the legitimate institution for responding to juvenile delinquency and misconduct during 1900 and 1960."
— 1988, Edmund F. McGarrell, “Juvenile Justice in Change”, in Juvenile Correctional Reform: Two Decades of Policy and Procedural Change (SUNY Series in Critical Issues in Criminal Justice), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 7:
"Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), often referred to by doctors today as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is a type of arthritis that causes joint inflammation and stiffness for more than six weeks in a child aged 16 or younger. It affects approximately 50,000 children in the United States. Inflammation causes redness, swelling, warmth, and soreness in the joints, although many children with JRA do not complain of joint pain."
— 2024 September 6, David Zelman, “Understanding Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis -- the Basics”, in WebMD:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ offender was tried in a court for minors rather than adults.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ court handles cases involving young people who are under the age of eighteen years old today.