nonage

American  

[non-ij, noh-nij] / ˈnɒn ɪdʒ, ˈnoʊ nɪdʒ /

noun

1. the period of legal minority, or of an age below 21.

2. any period of immaturity.

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nonage British  

/ ˈnəʊnɪdʒ /

noun

1. law the state of being under any of various ages at which a person may legally enter into certain transactions, such as the making of binding contracts, marrying, etc

2. any period of immaturity

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Etymology

Origin of nonage

1350–1400; late Middle English < Middle French ( see non-, age); replacing Middle English nownage < Anglo-French nounage; Middle French as above

Example Sentences

Kant saw humanity living deeply irrational lives in a state of self-imposed nonage, capable of being rescued only by an enlightened but autocratic ruler.

From Slate • Aug. 31, 2016

His "hoy," "bunk" and "bull" stories, his hoaxes, false fronts and fabrications were easily detected and. cast out when he was in his professional nonage.

From Time Magazine Archive

The founding father of black humor in a new, splendidly gutty translation of his classic about the bitter, unbreakable orphan whose childhood and nonage were a lugubrious epic of squalor, filth, misery and hatred.

From Time Magazine Archive

Plain realism, as in Gorky's "Nachtasyl" and the war stories of Ambrose Bierce, simply wearies us by its vacuity; plain romance, if we ever get beyond our nonage, makes us laugh.

From A Book of Prefaces by Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)

I could see no reason for a nom de plume in the case of "Gretchen" or the other novel of nonage; with the "Child of Misery" it was different.

From The Sixth Sense A Novel by McKenna, Stephen