puberty

CEFRC1

/ˈpjuː.bə.ti/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The period when a child's body develops into an adult body.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction.

Examples

  • Adolescence is the stage between puberty and adultery.

  • The body changes a lot during puberty.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈpjʉː.bə.ti/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A developmental phase brought about by the action of hormones as part of the maturing process. For humans, there are three in total.

  2. The process of sexual development that produces secondary sex characteristics and makes a person capable of reproducing sexually.

  3. The period when a plant begins to flower.

More examples

In context

  • Girls undergoing puberty show an increase in the total output of cortisol, which is related to stress, while boys show little increase.

  • As shown in Figure 14.4 of the textbook, children reach puberty at different ages in different countries; within those nations, children living in cities tend to reach puberty earlier than those living in rural areas.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

During blank, the body produces hormones that cause physical and emotional changes.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English puberte, from Old French puberté, from Latin pūbertās (“the age of maturity, manhood”).