puberty
UK /ˈpjuː.bə.ti/ · US /ˈpju.bɚ.ti/ noun
Forms puberties
- noun A developmental phase brought about by the action of hormones as part of the maturing process. For humans, there are three in total.
- noun (more common) The process of sexual development that produces secondary sex characteristics and makes a person capable of reproducing sexually.
- noun The age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction.
- noun (botany) The period when a plant begins to flower.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English puberte, from Old French puberté, from Latin pūbertās (“the age of maturity, manhood”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The earliest age at which persons are capable of begetting or bearing children, usually considered, in temperate climates, to be about fourteen years in males and twelve in females.
- noun The period when a plant first bears flowers.
Etymology [L. pubertas, fr. puber, pubes, adult: cf. F. puberté.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “puberty”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details