Etymologically
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youth

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /juːθ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English youthe,[2] earlier youhthe,[3] inherited from Old English ġeoguþ (“youth; young people; young warriors”),[4][3][5] from Proto-West Germanic *jugunþ-,[5][3] altered, according to the OED, from Proto-Germanic *juwunþiz under the influence of its opposite *dugunþiz “ability”, the source of Old English duguþ.[4][3] It is formed from the root of young and the abstract suffix -th,[4][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *yeu- (“vital force, youthful vigour”).[4] It is cognate with Dutch jeugd and German Jugend,[3][5][6] and Latin juventa is related.[3][5] In Middle English the -g- became a yogh and then disappeared.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English ġeoguþ: about 725, in Beowulf.[3] The time of being young and young people collectively are in the OED from about 897.[7]

Semantic evolution

Old English used it for the early stage of life, for young people collectively, for the young warriors of a band, and for young cattle.[4] The quality typical of the young, such as freshness or vigour, is from 971.[7] A young person, especially a young man, is from about 1200, and in this sense the word has a plural.[4][7] An English form youngth is recorded in 1303.[3] The figurative “early stage of existence” is from 1602.[7] Youthful is from 1561,[3] and youth hostel is attested by 1929.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English ġeoguþ.[3]
  • c. 897 – the time of being young; young people.[7]
  • 971 – youthful freshness.[7]
  • c. 1200 – a young man.[4]
  • 1561 – youthful.[3]
  • 1602 – an early stage of existence.[7]
  • 1929 – youth hostel.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The time of life between childhood and adulthood.
  2. The state or quality of being young.
  3. A young person, especially a young man in his late teens.
  4. Young people as a group: the youth of today.
  5. An early stage of development.

Word family

  • youthless
  • youthful
  • youthen
  • youthquake
  • fountain of youth
  • youth group
  • youth hostel
  • young
  • juvenile
  • junior
  • youngster

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press