puberty
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.
Origin of puberty
1Other words from puberty
- post·pu·ber·ty, adjective
Words Nearby puberty
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use puberty in a sentence
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.
Puberty can repair the brain’s stress responses after hardship early in life | Esther Landhuis | August 28, 2020 | Science NewsTaken together, Romeo’s studies suggested that neuroendocrine stress responses get shaped during puberty to emerge differently in adulthood.
Puberty can repair the brain’s stress responses after hardship early in life | Esther Landhuis | August 28, 2020 | Science NewsDuring 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.
Puberty may reboot the brain and behaviors | Esther Landhuis | August 27, 2020 | Science News For StudentsThe researchers also noted at what stage of puberty each child was in —from 1 to 5.
Puberty may reboot the brain and behaviors | Esther Landhuis | August 27, 2020 | Science News For Students
That our Post-puberty Dennis the Menace appears to be lost in such deep slumber seems only understandable.
This Is What Justin Bieber Looks Like Sleeping, Taken by a Groupie (VIDEO) | Kevin Fallon | November 7, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTpuberty, 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.
The Bontoc Igorot | Albert Ernest Jenkspuberty comes to both sexes as early as at ten and eleven years.
The Physical Life of Woman: | Dr. George H NapheysBy "puberty" is meant the age at which a woman begins her period of possible child-bearing experience.
Private Sex Advice to Women | R. B. Armitagepuberty marks its advent, although the exact sign of its arrival is hard to determine.
The Boy and the Sunday School | John L. Alexander
British Dictionary definitions for puberty
/ (ˈpjuːbətɪ) /
the period at the beginning of adolescence when the sex glands become functional and the secondary sexual characteristics emerge: Also called: pubescence Related adjective: hebetic
Origin of puberty
1Derived forms of puberty
- pubertal, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for puberty
[ pyōō′bər-tē ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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