teens English · revision 7261

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1604}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tiːnz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[-teen]], as in thirteen, used as a word in its own right, with the plural -s.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The years of a person's life from 13 to 19: 1673, in Wycherley's ''The Gentleman Dancing Master'';^(Barnhart 1988) the 1670s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) MWU dates it to 1604.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Numbers ending in -teen, especially ages, are by 1885,^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023) and the decade of years ending in -teen, as the 1910s, by 1889.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1604 – first use (MWU).^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1673 – the years from 13 to 19.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1885 – numbers ending in -teen.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1889 – a decade of years.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The years of a person's life between the ages of 13 and 19.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The numbers from 13 to 19.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[teen]]

+ * [[teenager]]

+ * [[teenage]]

+ * [[-teen]]

+ * [[ten]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}