adult
/ˈæd.ʌlt/ · noun
Meaning
- An animal that is full-grown.
- A person who has reached the legal age of majority.
- Fully grown.
- Intended for or restricted to adults rather than children due to size, maturity, knowledge level, judgement, etc.
- Containing situations or discussions intended primarily for adults, such as serious crime, illicit drug use, extramarital affairs, etc.
- Containing alcohol, intended for consumption only by adults.
- Containing marijuana, intended for consumption only by adults.
- Containing material of an explicit sexual nature; pornographic.
- Containing excessive vulgar or profane speech, text or images, intended only for adults.
- Intended for, or restricted to, those who are not young children.
- To behave like an adult.
- To (cause to) be or become an adult.
Etymology / origin
From French adulte, from Latin adultus (“grown up”), perfect passive participle of adolescō (“to grow up”). Compare adolescent.
- adultus(Latin)→
- adulte(French)→
- *h₂el- (grow)(ine-pro)→
- adult (English)
- Relations: root, bor, der
Related words
Descendant words
- A片(Chinese) (der)
- adolto(Esperanto) (der)
- adulto(Ido) (bor)
- アダルト(Japanese) (bor)
- voksenopplæring(Norwegian Bokmål) (der)
Sources
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