adulthood

Etymology

It is formed from English adult + -hood,^[2][3] probably after childhood.^[2] The noun adult comes from the adjective,^[3] which is borrowed from Latin adultus (“grown up, mature”), the past participle of adolēscō (“to grow up”).^[2][3][4] English had earlier had adultness (from 1731) and adultage.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state or condition of being adult, or an adult: 1850, in the journal The Veterinarian.^[2][3][5] The OED's first edition gave a later first date, about 1870, and defined the word simply as equal to adultness.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning, extended to the period of life in which a person is an adult.^[5][1]

Timeline

• 1731 – adultness, the earlier word.^[3]
• 1850 – adulthood, the state of being adult.^[2][3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The state or condition of being an adult: She reached adulthood during the war.^[5][2]
2. The period of life in which one is an adult, following adolescence.^[5][1]

Related words

• adult
• adolescent
• childhood

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press