teen
1 Americanadjective
noun
noun
-
Archaic. suffering; grief.
-
Obsolete. injury; harm.
combining form
adjective
noun
Usage
What does -teen mean? The suffix -teen means “ten.” It is used to form cardinal numbers from 13 to 19.The form -teen comes from Old English -tēne, meaning “ten.” The Latin cognate of -tēne is -decim, from decem, also meaning “ten.” Find out how dozen is related to the combining form -decim at our entry for the word.
Other Word Forms
- -teenth combining form
Etymology
Origin of teen1
First recorded in 1940–45; by shortening
Origin of teen2
before 1000; Middle English tene, Old English tēona; cognate with Old Frisian tiona, Old Saxon tiono, Old Norse tjōn
Origin of -teen3
Middle English, Old English -tēne, combining form of ten; cognate with Dutch -tien, German -zehn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By his teen years in Annapolis, Md., Duvall had become an excellent mimic, absorbing dialects and mannerisms wherever he happened to be.
From Los Angeles Times
But the movie also features a school for troubled teens that had introduced a healthy-meals program with whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables.
The best route is a specialized pursuit that teens are genuinely passionate about, students and advisers say.
In Tumbler Ridge, a mining town of roughly 2,700 people, a picture of the teen’s unsettled life was emerging from police and court records and a family statement.
High schools are coming up with innovative ways to teach teens about money.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
