Etymologically
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juvénile

Etymology and origin of the French word juvénile

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1112, Voyage de saint Brendan, juvenil
Borrowed from
Latin iuvenilis
Ultimate origin
Latin (iuvenis)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French juvénile
English juvenile

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʒy.ve.nil/[1]

Forms

juvénile (plural juvéniles)[1] Juvenil (about 1112), juvénile (about 1460, Chastellain).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin iuvenīlis (“youthful; lively; violent”),[5][4][6][1][7] formed on the model of puerīlis (“childish”) from iuvenis (“young”), the source of jeune.[4][2][8]

Cognate with Occitan jovenil, Spanish juvenil and Italian giovanile.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benedeit's Voyage de saint Brendan (early 12th century) speaks of oilz juvenilz, youthful eyes.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Set apart from the everyday jeune, juvénile is a word of careful style for what belongs to youth, ardeur juvénile (Montaigne already has juvenile ardeur), and for what concerns young people, as in délinquance juvénile.[4][8][9] In medicine and psychology it names what appears during youth, as acné juvénile.[5][9]

In the 20th century it took technical senses: in geology eaux juvéniles (1931), water of magmatic origin, in zoology hormone juvénile, and, from English, a juvénile is a young animal (about 1978).[4][9] Juvénilité (1495) and juvénilement (1544) are literary.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1112 – Oilz juvenilz (Voyage de saint Brendan).[5][4]
  • c. 1460 – The form juvénile (Chastellain).[2][3]
  • 1495 – Juvénilité.[4]
  • 1878 – First recorded by the Académie.[5]
  • 1931 – Eaux juvéniles.[4][3]
  • c. 1978 – A noun, a young animal, from English.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Youthful, belonging to youth: ardeur juvénile, grâce juvénile.[9][10]
  2. Of young people; juvenile: délinquance juvénile, acné juvénile.[9][5]
  3. (geology) Of magmatic origin: eau juvénile.[9][10]

Noun

  1. (zoology) A young animal.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 94b
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Juvénile.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/juv%C3%A9nile. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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