/jʌŋ/, /jʊŋɡ/, /jəŋɡ/
OriginInherited from Middle English yong, yonge, from Old English ġeong, from Proto-West Germanic *jung, from Proto-Germanic *jungaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuHn̥ḱós, from *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”).
Cognates
Cognate with Alemannic German jung, jungu, junhs, jungà, jòng (“young”), Bavarian junk (“young”), Central Franconian, Luxembourgish jonk (“young”), Cimbrian djung, jung, junk (“young”), Dutch jong (“young”), German, German Low German, Mòcheno and Vilamovian jung (“young”), Limburgish jong, jonk (“young”), Yiddish יונג (yung, “young”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish ung (“young”), Faroese, Icelandic ungur (“young”), Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍃 (juggs, “young”).
- In the early part of growth or life; born not long ago.
“a lamb is a young sheep”
“these picture books are for young readers”
“Come skydiving with us. Come on, you're only young once!”
- At an early stage of existence or development; having recently come into existence.
“the age of space travel is still young”
“a young business”
“[…] while the Fears of the People were young, they were encreas’d strangely by several odd Accidents […]”
- advanced in age; (far towards or) at a specified stage of existence or age.
“And thou, our Mother, twice two centuries young,
Bend with bright shafts of truth thy bow fresh-strung.”
“How young is your dog?”
“Her grandmother turned 70 years young last month.”
- Junior (of two related people with the same name).
“The young Mr. Chester must be in the wrong, and the old Mr. Chester must be in the right.”
- Early. (of a decade of life)
“1922, E. Barrington, “The Mystery of Stella” in “The Ladies!” A Shining Constellation of Wit and Beauty, Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, pp. 40-41,
[…] Miss Hessy is as pretty a girl as eye can see, i”
“Ephraim would be in his young thirties.”
“[…] while this may appeal to older, better-off shoppers, vast numbers, especially those in their teens and young twenties, still want fast, cheap fashion.”
- Youthful; having the look or qualities of a young person.
“Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London”
“My grandmother is a very active woman and is quite young for her age.”
- Of or belonging to the early part of life.
“The cynical world soon shattered my young dreams.”
- obsoleteHaving little experience; inexperienced; unpracticed; ignorant; weak.
“Come, come, elder brother, you are too young in this.”
- oftenOffspring, especially the immature offspring of animals.
“The lion caught a gnu to feed its young.”
“The lion's young are curious about the world around them.”
“There is a logic in this behavior: a mother will not come into breeding condition again unless her young is ready to be weaned or has died, so killing a baby may hasten […]”
- informalTo become or seem to become younger.
“The aging (or younging) of a population refers to the fact that a population, as a unit of observation, is getting older (or younger).”
- informalTo cause to appear younger.
“Medicare data was "younged" by a month to achieve conformity with the conventional completed ages recorded in the census.”
- To exhibit younging.
“Shoshonitic magmatism younged southwards in the Superior Province, commensurate with the southwardly diachronous accretion of allochthonous subprovinces.”
“The existence of magmatic belts younging northward implies that slabs of Asian mantle subducted one after another under ranges north of the Himalayas.”
- countable, uncountableA British distinguishing surname transferred from the nickname for the younger of two people having the same given name.
- countable, uncountableA Chinese surname from Cantonese.
- countable, uncountableA Chinese surname from Hokkien.
- countable, uncountableA Chinese surname from Mandarin.
- countable, uncountableA village in Saskatchewan, Canada.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community and census-designated place in Gila County, Arizona, United States.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Brown Township, Morgan County, Indiana, United States.
- countable, uncountableAn unincorporated community in Jackson County, West Virginia, United States.
- countable, uncountableA city in Río Negro department, Uruguay.
- countable, uncountableA town in Hilltops council area, South West Slopes Region, New South Wales, Australia.
- abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountableEllipsis of Young County.
- abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountableEllipsis of Young Parish.
- abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountableEllipsis of Young Township.
- abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountableEllipsis of Young River.
- abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountableEllipsis of Young Lake.
- abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountableEllipsis of Mount Young.
Formsyounger(comparative) · youngest(superlative) · young(plural) · youngs(plural) · youngs(present, singular, third-person) · younging(participle, present) · younged(participle, past) · younged(past) · Youngs(plural)