English
young
see also: Young
Pronunciation Adjective

young (comparative younger, superlative youngest)

  1. In the early part of growth or life; born not long ago.
    a lamb is a young sheep;  these picture books are for young readers
  2. At an early stage of existence or development; having recently come into existence.
    the age of space travel is still young;   a young business
    • 1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year, London: E. Nutt et al., p. 23,
      […] while the Fears of the People were young, they were encreas’d strangely by several odd Accidents […]
  3. (Not) advanced in age; (far towards or) at a specified stage of existence or age.
    • 1906, Robertson Nicoll, Tis Forty Years Since, quoted in T. P.'s Weekly, volume 8, page 462:
      And thou, our Mother, twice two centuries young,
      Bend with bright shafts of truth thy bow fresh-strung.
    How young is your dog?   Her grandmother turned 70 years young last month.
  4. Junior (of two related people with the same name).
    • 1841, The Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art:
      The young Mr. Chester must be in the wrong, and the old Mr. Chester must be in the right.
  5. (of a decade of life) Early.
    • 1922, Elizabeth Louisa Moresby, “The Mystery of Stella” in “The Ladies!” A Shining Constellation of Wit and Beauty, Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, pp. 40-41,
      […] Miss Hessy is as pretty a girl as eye can see, in her young twenties and a bit of a fortune to boot.
    • 1965, Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate, London: Macmillan, Part One, Chapter 1,
      Ephraim would be in his young thirties.
    • 2008, Alice Fisher, “Grown-up chic is back as high street goes upmarket,” The Guardian, 20 January, 2008,
      […] while this may appeal to older, better-off shoppers, vast numbers, especially those in their teens and young twenties, still want fast, cheap fashion.
  6. Youthful; having the look or qualities of a young person.
    My grandmother is a very active woman and is quite young for her age.
  7. Of or belonging to the early part of life.
    The cynical world soon shattered my young dreams.
  8. (obsolete) Having little experience; inexperienced; unpracticed; ignorant; weak.
    • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act I, Scene 1,
      Come, come, elder brother, you are too young in this.
Synonyms Antonyms Translations Translations
  • German: jung
  • Portuguese: jovem
  • Russian: моложа́вый
Translations
  • German: jung
  • Portuguese: de juventude
Translations Noun

young (uncountable)

  1. People who are young; young people, collectively; youth.
    The young of today are well-educated.
  2. Young or immature offspring (especially of an animal).
    The lion caught a gnu to feed its young.
    The lion's young are curious.
  3. (rare, possibly, nonstandard) An individual offspring; a single recently born or hatched organism.
    • 2010, Mammal Anatomy: An Illustrated Guide ↗, page 21:
      There is a logic in this behavior: a mother will not come into breeding condition again unless her young is ready to be weaned or has died, so killing a baby may hasten […]
Translations Translations Translations
  • Russian: детёныш
Related terms Verb

young (youngs, present participle younging; past and past participle younged)

  1. (informal or demography) To become or seem to become younger.
  2. (informal or demography) To cause to appear younger.
  3. (geology) To exhibit younging.
Young
Pronunciation Proper noun
  1. Surname for the younger of two people having the same given name.
  2. A town in the region of the South West Slopes.
  3. A village in Saskatchewan, Canada.
  4. An unincorporated community/and/census-designated place in Gila County, Arizona.
  5. An unincorporated community in Brown Township, Morgan County.
  6. An unincorporated community in Jackson County, West Virginia.
  7. A city in the Rio Negro Department.


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