young English · revision 2332

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf (Old English geong)|origins=ine-pro *yeu-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /jʌŋ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|yong]], [[inh|ang|geong|t=youthful, young]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*junga-]],^(Etymonline) which goes back to [[ine-pro|*yuwn̥kós]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) a suffixed form of [[m|ine-pro|*yeu-|t=vital force, youthful vigour]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) The same root without the velar suffix gave [[la|juvenis|t=young]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) and the suffixed form is also found in [[m|la|juvencus|t=young bull]] and [[cy|ieuanc|t=young]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Its relatives in Germanic include [[nl|jong]], [[de|jung]] and [[non|ungr]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Its relatives further afield include [[lt|jaunas]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In an early stage of life, not old: Old English ''geong'', first recorded about 725 in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988) The Old English word could also mean recent, new or fresh.^(Etymonline) The Middle English spelling ''yong'' appears before 1325 in the ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “characteristic of or suited to the young” dates from the late 12th century.^(Etymonline) From about 1400 the word was used of any thing, concrete or abstract, in the first stage of its existence.^(Etymonline) From 1628 it was used of drink that has not been aged,^(HTOED) and since 1678 of newly formed ice.^(HTOED) As a noun, ''young'' meant “young people” in Old English and “the offspring of an animal” from the late 15th century.^(Etymonline) ''Youngster'' is recorded from 1589.^(Barnhart 1988) Between about 1830 and 1850 names like ''Young France'' and ''Young Italy'' were given to republican agitators, and ''Young England'' was a faction of young Tory aristocrats.^(Etymonline) A ''young Turk'', a young person eager for radical change, comes from the Young Turks who carried out the Ottoman revolution of 1908.^(Cresswell 2021) Geologists have used ''young'' as a verb since 1934, of a formation that shows its younger side in a given direction.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''geong'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 12th century – characteristic of the young.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1325 – Middle English ''yong'' (''Cursor Mundi'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – of things, in an early stage.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 15th century – noun, the offspring of an animal.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1589 – ''youngster''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1628 – of drink, not aged.^(HTOED)

+ * 1934 – geological verb.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # In an early period of life, growth or development.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Recently begun or formed; not far advanced.^(AHD)

+ # Belonging to or typical of [[youth]]; fresh and vigorous.^(AHD)

+ # Lacking experience; [[immature]].^(AHD)

+ # The younger of two people with the same name.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(geology)'' At an early stage of a geological cycle.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Young people as a group.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The [[offspring]] of an animal; a [[brood]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[youngness]]

+ * [[youngish]]

+ * [[youngblood]]

+ * [[youngling]]

+ * [[youngster]]

+ * [[young man]]

+ * [[young Turk]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[youth]]

+ * [[juvenile]]

+ * [[junior]]

+ * [[rejuvenate]]

+ * [[younker]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ RHWU compares ''young'', the general word for anything not yet fully grown, with ''youthful'', which suggests the good qualities of youth such as energy and hope, and ''juvenile'', which may suggest childish faults or refer to the years before legal adulthood.^(RHWU) In the dialects of Scotland and England, ''young folk'' meant a newly married couple.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}