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. Also called: pubescence. the period at the beginning of adolescence when the sex glands become functional and the secondary sexual characteristics emerge

puberty

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.

Other Word Forms

• postpuberty adjective
• pubertal adjective

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of puberty¹

C14: from Latin pūbertās maturity, from pūber adult

Example Sentences

"While puberty offers a clear start, the end of adolescence is much harder to pin down scientifically. Based purely on neural architecture, we found that adolescent-like changes in brain structure end around the early thirties."

Read more on Science Daily

A World Athletics official has claimed that between 50 and 60 athletes who went through male puberty have been finalists in the female category in global and continental track and field championships since 2000.

Read more on BBC

Unsurprisingly adolescence starts around the onset of puberty, but this is the latest evidence suggesting it ends much later than we assumed.

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They will all have reached puberty, but will be younger than 16 - and will have to meet strict criteria, undergo intensive medical and psychological screening before they are allowed to start taking puberty blockers.

Read more on BBC

I was going through puberty and growing into this different person.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• adolescence