adult
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: adùlt
Etymology
From French adulte, from Latin adultus (“grown up”), perfect passive participle of adolescō (“I grow up”). Compare adolescent.
Pronunciation
Noun
adult (plural adults)
- A fully grown human or other animal.
- 1840, Georges Cuvier, Edward Blyth, Robert Mudie, George Johnston, J.O. Westwood, “The fourth order of reptiles—The batrachians”, in Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, page 286:
- The young not only differs from the adult by the presence of its gills, but its feet are only developed by degrees, and in several genera there are also a deciduous beak and tail, and intestines of a different form
- A person who has reached the legal age of majority.
Synonyms
- (fully grown human or other animal): grown up; see also Thesaurus:adult
Translations
fully grown human
|
Adjective
adult (comparative more adult, superlative most adult)
- Fully grown.
- an adult human, animal, or plant
- Intended for or restricted to adults rather than children due to size, maturity, knowledge level, judgement, etc.
- adult clothes; adult cereal; an adult documentary
- 1973, Marshall Kaplan, Gans, and Kahn, Children and the urban environment (page 21)
- In May 1967 the WGBH Education Division submitted an initial proposal to HUD for a series of four adult television documentaries on conservation in an urban environment.
- Containing situations or discussions intended primarily for adults, such as serious crime, illicit drug use, extramarital affairs, etc.
- adult situations; adult discussions
- (of a beverage) Containing alcohol, intended for consumption only by adults.
- an adult drink; an adult root beer float
- (of a cookie, gummy, etc.) Containing marijuana, intended for consumption only by adults.
- an adult cookie; adult gummy worms
- Containing material of an explicit sexual nature; pornographic.
- an adult movie
- This program contains adult content. Parental discretion is advised.
- Containing excessive vulgar or profane speech, text or images, intended only for adults.
- adult language; an adult cartoon
Synonyms
- (fully grown): big, fully grown, grown up; see also Thesaurus:full-grown
- (intended for adults): grown up; see also Thesaurus:adultlike or Thesaurus:for adults
- (containing explicit sexual material): pornographic, X-rated, XXX, XXXX; see also Thesaurus:pornographic
- (vulgar): blue, indecent, obscene, salacious; see also Thesaurus:obscene
Derived terms
- adult actress
- adult baby
- adult beverage
- adult bookstore
- adultcentrism
- adult contemporary
- adult content
- adult education
- adultescent
- adult film
- adulticide
- adultification
- adultify
- adultish
- adultism
- adultivity
- adultization
- adultize
- adult learner
- adultlike
- adultly
- adult material
- adult movie
- adultness
- adultocentric
- adultoid
- adult-onset diabetes
- adultophile
- adult relations
- adult respiratory distress syndrome
- adultship
- adult shop
- adultspeak
- adult star
- adult survivor
- adult third culture kid
- adultwear
- adulty
- appropriate adult
- consenting adult
- emerging adult
- hyperadult
- kidult
- new adult
- nonadult
- older adult
- preadult
- pseudoadult
- subadult
- unadult
- young adult
Related terms
Translations
fully grown
|
intended for adults
|
euphemistic: pornographic
Verb
adult (third-person singular simple present adults, present participle adulting, simple past and past participle adulted)
- (intransitive, slang) To behave like an adult.
- Adulting is hard!
- (nonstandard, rare) To (cause to) be or become an adult.
- 1974, Occasional Papers, numbers 42-46, Syracuse University, page 5:
- Womanhood was achieved at twenty-one, when the female was "adulted"; manhood was fully achieved at twenty-five, […]
- 2013, Ewa Rewers, The Contradictions of Urban Art, →ISBN, page 84:
- The process of adulting children […] overlaps with the process of the uncontrolled infiltration of the media […] into children’s imagination.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:adult.
Further reading
- “adult”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “adult”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
adult (feminine adulta, masculine plural adults, feminine plural adultes)
- adult (fully grown)
Derived terms
- adultesa
Noun
adult m (plural adults, feminine adulta)
- adult (fully grown person)
Further reading
- “adult” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Adjective
adult (strong nominative masculine singular adulter, not comparable)
- (medicine) adult
Declension
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
| predicative | er ist adult | sie ist adult | es ist adult | sie sind adult | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | adulter | adulte | adultes | adulte |
| genitive | adulten | adulter | adulten | adulter | |
| dative | adultem | adulter | adultem | adulten | |
| accusative | adulten | adulte | adultes | adulte | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der adulte | die adulte | das adulte | die adulten |
| genitive | des adulten | der adulten | des adulten | der adulten | |
| dative | dem adulten | der adulten | dem adulten | den adulten | |
| accusative | den adulten | die adulte | das adulte | die adulten | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein adulter | eine adulte | ein adultes | (keine) adulten |
| genitive | eines adulten | einer adulten | eines adulten | (keiner) adulten | |
| dative | einem adulten | einer adulten | einem adulten | (keinen) adulten | |
| accusative | einen adulten | eine adulte | ein adultes | (keine) adulten | |
Positive forms of adult (uncomparable)
See also
Etymology
Borrowed from French adulte, from Latin adultus (“grown up”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
adult m or n (feminine singular adultă, masculine plural adulți, feminine and neuter plural adulte)
Declension
Declension of adult
Noun
adult m (plural adulți, feminine equivalent adultă)
Declension
Declension of adult
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