Etymologically
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adult

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈæd.ʌlt/, /əˈdʌlt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin adultus (“grown up, mature, ripe”),[2][3] perhaps through adulte,[4][5] the past participle of adolēscere (“to grow up, come to maturity”),[2][3] from ad- (“to”) and alēscere (“to be nourished, grow”),[2] an inchoative of alere (“to nourish”),[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *al- (“to grow, nourish”).[2] It is related to adolescent.[3][5] The noun is from the adjective.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Grown up, mature: 1531,[3][6] though not common until the mid-17th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a grown-up person, is from 1658 in Barnhart and the OED[3][6] and 1655 in Merriam-Webster.[4] Figuratively, of plants or languages, “full-grown” is from 1670.[6] Adult education is from 1851.[6] “Mature in attitude or outlook” is from 1929.[2][6] In the old British film ratings, A meant suitable for adult audiences (1914).[2] As a euphemism for “pornographic”, of films or shops, it dates from 1958;[2][6] Etymonline remarks that this does the word no honour.[2]

Timeline

  • 1531 – adjective, grown up.[3][6]
  • 1658 – noun, an adult person.[3][6]
  • 1670 – of plants or languages, mature.[6]
  • 1851 – adult education.[6]
  • 1929 – mature in attitude.[2][6]
  • 1958 – euphemism for pornographic.[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who is fully grown or has reached legal age.
  2. A fully grown animal or plant.

Adjective

  1. Fully grown and developed; mature.
  2. Intended for or suitable for adults.
  3. (euphemistic) Pornographic: adult films.

Word family

  • adulthood
  • adultness
  • adultly
  • adultlike
  • nonadult
  • preadult
  • subadult
  • unadult

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press