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View synonyms for puberty

puberty

[ pyoo-ber-tee ]

noun

  1. the period or age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction of offspring: in common law, presumed to be 14 years in the male and 12 years in the female.


puberty

/ ˈpjuːbətɪ /

noun

  1. the period at the beginning of adolescence when the sex glands become functional and the secondary sexual characteristics emerge Also calledpubescence hebetic


puberty

/ pyo̅o̅bər-tē /

  1. The stage in the development of humans and other primates marked by the development of secondary sex characteristics , including menarche in females. In humans, puberty occurs at the onset of adolescence, between the ages of about 11 and 14 in girls and 13 and 16 in boys.


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Derived Forms

  • ˈpubertal, adjective

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Other Words From

  • post·puber·ty adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of puberty1

1350–1400; Middle English puberte < Latin pūbertās adulthood, equivalent to pūber- , stem of pūbēs grown-up + -tās -ty 2

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Word History and Origins

Origin of puberty1

C14: from Latin pūbertās maturity, from pūber adult

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Example Sentences

In other words, something happens in puberty — but not earlier in childhood — that allows the brain to shift back to normal stress responses that had been skewed by early trauma.

Taken together, Romeo’s studies suggested that neuroendocrine stress responses get shaped during puberty to emerge differently in adulthood.

During puberty, the body grows faster, changes shape and gets hair in new places.

The responses were being shaped more powerfully when those stressors occurred around puberty rather than later in life.

The researchers also noted at what stage of puberty each child was in —from 1 to 5.

That our Post-Puberty Dennis the Menace appears to be lost in such deep slumber seems only understandable.

Puberty, pū′bėr-ti, n. the age of full development: early manhood or womanhood: the period when a plant begins to flower.

Puberty is reached relatively late, usually between the fourteenth and sixteenth years.

Puberty comes to both sexes as early as at ten and eleven years.

By "Puberty" is meant the age at which a woman begins her period of possible child-bearing experience.

Puberty marks its advent, although the exact sign of its arrival is hard to determine.

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pubertalpuberulent