youth

noun

Etymology: From Middle English youthe, youghte, ȝouþe, from Old English ġeoguþ (“the state of being young; youth”), from Proto-West Germanic *juwunþa, from Proto-Germanic *jugunþō, *jugunþiz (“youth”), corresponding to young + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Juugd, West Frisian jeugd, Dutch jeugd, German Low German Jöögd, German Jugend.

1. The quality or state of being young.

   “Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.”

   “Feel awfully about Scott... It was a terrible thing for him to love youth so much that he jumped straight from youth to senility without going through manhood. The minute he felt youth going he was frightened again and thought there was nothing between youth and age.”

2. The part of life following childhood; the period of existence preceding maturity or age; the whole early part of life, from childhood, or, sometimes, from infancy, to adulthood.

   “Make the most of your youth, it will not last forever.”

   “I made many mistakes in my youth, but learned from them all.”

3. A young person.

   “There was a group of youths hanging around the parking lot, reading fashion magazines and listening to music.”

4. A young man; a male adolescent or young adult.

   “[…]and then a youth appeared—no one quite knew where from or to whom he belonged—but he settled down with them in a happy-go-lucky way, and they all lived together.”

5. Young persons, collectively.

   “The actual brides- and grooms-to-be are not in attendance—many youth would be embarrassed by their parents’ matchmaking efforts, and often do not live in the same city anyway.”