Etymologically
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juvénile

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 19:14. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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)