Etymologically
Log in

iuvenilis

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word iuvenilis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (iuvenis)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin iuvenis
Latin iuvenilis
French juvénile
English juvenile
Latin iuvenalis
Latin iuventas
Latin iuventus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [jʊ.wɛˈniː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ju.veˈniː.lis][1]

Forms

iuvenīlis (neuter iuvenīle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] It is also written iuenīlis in a manuscript of Tacitus.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin iuvenis (“young; young man”) + -īlis.[3][2][1] Wiktionary traces iuvenis to Proto-Italic *juwō and Proto-Indo-European *h₂yéwHō.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Cicero on,[2][4] who speaks in the Brutus of a certain youthful freedom and licence in speaking.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The TLL thinks it rather a prose word.[2] It means belonging to a young man or woman, as in Seneca's Thyestes,[3] and typical of youth, youthful: Cicero has a youthful exuberance of style, and Virgil a youthful body.[3][5] It also means having the vigour of youth: Ovid's Silenus is always more youthful than his years.[3] Statius uses it of something violent, of an illness that struck suddenly, as Greek uses its word for "youthful".[3] The comparative occurs, the superlative not.[2] In Church Latin it means young, youthful, suitable for youth.[6] English borrowed it in the 1620s as juvenile.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of youthful licence in speaking.[3][5][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a youthful body.[5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of the ever-youthful Silenus.[3]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius of a violent illness.[3]
  • 1620s – Borrowed into English as juvenile.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a young person; youthful, juvenile.[3][5][1][6]
  2. Having the freshness or vigour of youth.[3]
  3. Violent, vehement.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Iuvenilis.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/iuvenilis. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·