Youth Meaning
/juːθ/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe quality or state of being young.
nounThe 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.
Sentence Examples
Is there a youth hostel near here?
You must allow for his youth.
He had been a talented musician in his youth.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of a person is the time when they are young and full of energy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The organization provides many several programs for the local ____ to help them develop many new and useful skills today.
Word Origin & History
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 (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Juugd, West Frisian jeugd, Dutch jeugd, German Low German Jöögd, German Jugend.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1910, Emerson Hough, “The Purchase Price”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"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."
— 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 35:
"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."
— 2013 January 26, Brian Hayes, “Father of Fractals”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, page 62:
"[…]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."
— 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC, pages 274–275:
"The actual brides- and grooms-to-be are not in attendance—many youth would be embarrassed by their parents’ matchmaking efforts, and often do not live in the same city anyway."
— 2012 March, Mary Bergstrom, “Tipping Gender Scales: From Boys Rule to Girl Power About Face”, in All Eyes East: Lessons from the Front Lines of Marketing to China’s Youth, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 77:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of a person is the time when they are young and full of energy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The organization provides many several programs for the local ____ to help them develop many new and useful skills today.