young

¹

[yuhng]

adjective

younger, youngest 

1. being in the first or early stage of life or growth; youthful; not old.

   a young woman.

   Synonyms: growing
   Antonyms: old, mature

2. having the appearance, freshness, vigor, or other qualities of youth.

3. of or relating to youth.

   in one's young days.

4. inexperienced or immature.

5. not far advanced in years in comparison with another or others.

6. junior, as applied to the younger of two persons having the same name.

   the young Mr. Smith.

7. being in an early stage generally, as of existence, progress, operation, development, or maturity; new; early.

   a young wine; It is a young company, not yet firmly established.

8. representing or advocating recent or progressive tendencies, policies, or the like.

noun

1. those who have youth; young persons collectively.

   the educated young of today; a game for young and old.

2. young offspring.

   a mother hen protecting her young.

Young

²

[yuhng]

noun

1. Andrew (Jackson, Jr.), born 1932, U.S. clergyman, Black civil rights leader, politician, and diplomat: mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, 1981–89.

2. Art(hur Henry), 1866–1944, U.S. cartoonist and author.

3. Brigham, 1801–77, U.S. leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

4. Charles, 1864–1922, U.S. army colonel: highest-ranking Black officer in World War I.

5. Denton True Cy, 1867–1955, U.S. baseball player.

6. Edward, 1683–1765, English poet.

7. Ella, 1867–1956, Irish poet and mythologist in the U.S.

8. Lester Willis PresPrez, 1909–59, U.S. jazz tenor saxophonist.

9. Owen D., 1874–1962, U.S. lawyer, industrialist, government administrator, and financier.

10. Stark, 1881–1963, U.S. drama critic, novelist, and playwright.

11. Thomas, 1773–1829, English physician, physicist, mathematician, and Egyptologist.

12. Whitney M., Jr., 1921–71, U.S. social worker and educator: executive director of the National Urban League 1961–71.

young

¹

/ jʌŋ /

adjective

1. 1. having lived, existed, or been made or known for a relatively short time

      a young man

      a young movement

      a young country

   2. ( as collective noun; preceded by the )

      the young

2. youthful or having qualities associated with youth; vigorous or lively

   she's very young for her age

3. of or relating to youth

   in my young days

4. having been established or introduced for a relatively short time

   a young member

5. in an early stage of progress or development; not far advanced

   the day was young

6. geography

   1. (of mountains) formed in the Alpine orogeny and still usually rugged in outline

   2. another term for youthful

7. (often capital) of or relating to a rejuvenated group or movement or one claiming to represent the younger members of the population, esp one adhering to a political ideology

   Young England

   Young Socialists

noun

1. (functioning as plural) offspring, esp young animals

   a rabbit with her young

2. (of animals) pregnant

Young

²

/ jʌŋ /

noun

1. Brigham (ˈbrɪɡəm). 1801–77, US Mormon leader, who led the Mormon migration to Utah and founded Salt Lake City (1847)

2. Edward. 1683–1765, English poet and dramatist, noted for his Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality (1742–45)

3. Lester. 1909–59, US saxophonist and clarinetist. He was a leading early exponent of the tenor saxophone in jazz

4. Neil ( Percival ). born 1945, Canadian rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His albums include Harvest (1972), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Ragged Glory (1990), and Prairie Wind (2005)

5. Thomas. 1773–1829, English physicist, physician, and Egyptologist. He helped to establish the wave theory of light by his experiments on optical interference and assisted in the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone

Young

1. British physicist and physician who is best known for his contributions to the wave theory of light and his discovery of how the lens of the human eye changes shape to focus on objects of different distances. He also studied surface tension and elasticity, and Young's modulus (a measure of the rigidity of materials) is named for him. He is also credited with the first scientific definition of the word energy.

Other Word Forms

• quasi-young adjective
• youngish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of young¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English yong(e), Old English geong; cognate with Dutch jong, German jung, Old Norse ungr, Gothic jungs; akin to Latin juvenis

Word History and Origins

Origin of young¹

Old English geong; related to Old Saxon, Old High German iung, Old Norse ungr, Latin iuvenis, Sanskrit yuvan

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. with young, (of an animal) pregnant.

Synonym Study

Young, youthful, juvenile all refer to lack of age. Young is the general word for that which is undeveloped, immature, and in process of growth: a young colt, child; young shoots of wheat. Youthful has connotations suggesting the favorable characteristics of youth, such as vigor, enthusiasm, and hopefulness: youthful sports, energy, outlook. Juvenile may suggest less desirable characteristics, such as childishness, petulance, idleness, selfishness, or heedlessness ( juvenile behavior ), or it may refer simply to the years, up to the later teens, before legal responsibility: juvenile delinquency; juvenile court; juvenile books.

Example Sentences

Molly said she thought it was "very important" that children and young people gave evidence to the inquiry.

Read more on BBC

Mark Webber even talked in terms of he's had to put an arm around Oscar's shoulder - he's six months younger than Lando and had a few less seasons at it.

Read more on BBC

It’s really young — and not entirely out of reach.

Read more on MarketWatch

Now 21, he is the youngest member of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group, and says he will never "forgive and forget" what happened.

Read more on BBC

At a morgue in central Colombia, a young woman mourned her brother, a 16-year-old who was kidnapped by guerrillas and killed in a government bombing last week, she said.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• budding 
• inexperienced 
• new 
• youthful