Afrikaans adolessent | ||
Albanian adoleshent | ||
Amharic ጎረምሳ | ||
Arabic مراهق | ||
Armenian դեռահաս | ||
Assamese কিশোৰ-কিশোৰী | ||
Aymara wayn tawaqunaka | ||
Azerbaijani yeniyetmə | ||
Bambara funankɛninw | ||
Basque nerabe | ||
Belarusian падлеткавы | ||
Bengali কৈশোর | ||
Bhojpuri किशोर के बा | ||
Bosnian adolescent | ||
Bulgarian юношеска | ||
Catalan adolescent | ||
Cebuano tin-edyer | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 青少年 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 青少年 | ||
Corsican adolescente | ||
Croatian adolescent | ||
Czech puberťák | ||
Danish teenager | ||
Dhivehi ފުރާވަރުގެ ކުއްޖެކެވެ | ||
Dogri किशोरी | ||
Dutch adolescent | ||
English adolescent | ||
Esperanto adoleskanto | ||
Estonian nooruk | ||
Ewe ƒewuivi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) nagbibinata | ||
Finnish murrosikäinen | ||
French adolescente | ||
Frisian adolesinte | ||
Galician adolescente | ||
Georgian მოზარდი | ||
German jugendlicher | ||
Greek έφηβος | ||
Guarani adolescente rehegua | ||
Gujarati કિશોરવયના | ||
Haitian Creole adolesan | ||
Hausa saurayi | ||
Hawaiian ʻōpio | ||
Hebrew מִתבַּגֵר | ||
Hindi किशोर | ||
Hmong tus neeg hluas | ||
Hungarian serdülő | ||
Icelandic unglingur | ||
Igbo nwa | ||
Ilocano agtutubo | ||
Indonesian remaja | ||
Irish ógánach | ||
Italian adolescente | ||
Japanese 青年期 | ||
Javanese cah cilik | ||
Kannada ಹರೆಯದ | ||
Kazakh жасөспірім | ||
Khmer មនុស្សវ័យជំទង់ | ||
Kinyarwanda ingimbi | ||
Konkani किशोरवयीन | ||
Korean 한창 젊은 | ||
Krio yɔŋ pɔsin | ||
Kurdish ciwanan | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) هەرزەکار | ||
Kyrgyz өспүрүм | ||
Lao ໄວລຸ້ນ | ||
Latin adulescens | ||
Latvian pusaudzis | ||
Lingala elenge | ||
Lithuanian paauglys | ||
Luganda omuvubuka | ||
Luxembourgish jugendlecher | ||
Macedonian адолесцент | ||
Maithili किशोर | ||
Malagasy tanora | ||
Malay remaja | ||
Malayalam ക o മാരക്കാരൻ | ||
Maltese adolexxenti | ||
Maori taiohi | ||
Marathi पौगंडावस्थेतील | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯏꯅꯈꯠꯂꯛꯂꯤꯕꯥ ꯃꯤꯑꯣꯏꯁꯤꯡ꯫ | ||
Mizo tleirawl a ni | ||
Mongolian өсвөр насныхан | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဆယ်ကျော်သက် | ||
Nepali किशोर | ||
Norwegian tenåring | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) wachinyamata | ||
Odia (Oriya) କିଶୋର | ||
Oromo dargaggeessa | ||
Pashto ځوان | ||
Persian نوجوان | ||
Polish dorastający | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) adolescente | ||
Punjabi ਕਿਸ਼ੋਰ | ||
Quechua wayna sipas | ||
Romanian adolescent | ||
Russian подросток | ||
Samoan talavou | ||
Sanskrit किशोरः | ||
Scots Gaelic òganach | ||
Sepedi mofsa yo a lego mahlalagading | ||
Serbian адолесцент | ||
Sesotho mocha | ||
Shona kuyaruka | ||
Sindhi بالغ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) නව යොවුන් විය | ||
Slovak dospievajúci | ||
Slovenian mladostnik | ||
Somali dhalinyaro | ||
Spanish adolescente | ||
Sundanese rumaja | ||
Swahili kijana | ||
Swedish tonåring | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) nagdadalaga | ||
Tajik наврас | ||
Tamil இளம் பருவத்தினர் | ||
Tatar яшүсмер | ||
Telugu కౌమారదశ | ||
Thai วัยรุ่น | ||
Tigrinya መንእሰይ ምዃኑ’ዩ። | ||
Tsonga muntshwa wa kondlo-a-ndzi-dyi | ||
Turkish ergen | ||
Turkmen ýetginjek | ||
Twi (Akan) ɔbabun | ||
Ukrainian підлітковий | ||
Urdu جوانی | ||
Uyghur ئۆسمۈر | ||
Uzbek o'spirin | ||
Vietnamese thanh niên | ||
Welsh glasoed | ||
Xhosa ofikisayo | ||
Yiddish אַדאַלעסאַנט | ||
Yoruba ọdọ | ||
Zulu osemusha |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Adolessent" is an archaic, informal term for a teenager, especially a youth around 16 to 18. |
| Albanian | The word "adoleshent" in Albanian derives from the Latin "adolescens", meaning "a young man or woman." |
| Amharic | The term "ጎረምሳ" also denotes immaturity, inexperience, or a lack of wisdom. |
| Arabic | مراهق is also a type of small mirror in Arabic, reflecting the concept of self-discovery and exploration during adolescence. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "դեռահաս" derives from the adjective “երահաս" meaning "approaching" and has connotations of the individual being physically or mentally in a state of "transition" between childhood and adulthood. |
| Azerbaijani | "yeniyetmə" (adolescent) derives from "yeni" (new) and "yetmə" (to reach, to ripen), thus meaning "one who has reached a new stage of growth." |
| Basque | The word "nerabe" in Basque can also refer to a young man who is not yet married. |
| Belarusian | The original meaning of "падлеткавы" comes from the word "падлятак," which was in turn derived from the Proto-Slavic *podlětъ, meaning "to be under, to be submissive." |
| Bengali | In Sanskrit, 'kaisora' refers to the early stage of youth, from 11 to 17 years of age. |
| Bosnian | The word "adolescent" comes from the Latin word "adolescere", which means "to grow up" or "to become mature". |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian word "юношеска" also means "junior" in sports. |
| Catalan | In Catalan, the word "adolescent" comes from the Latin "adolescēns," meaning "growing up" or "young person." |
| Cebuano | The term 'tin-edyer' is derived from two Cebuano words 'tin' and 'edyer', meaning 'young' and 'age' respectively. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The etymology of "青少年" dates back to the 20th century, with the "少" component implying few or young, and the "年" and "青" components representing "age" and "green" respectively, with "green" symbolizing youth and energy. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | In Chinese, "青少年" literally means "green youth". |
| Corsican | In Corsican, "adolescente" can also mean "teenager". |
| Croatian | The Croatian word for "adolescent" is "adolescent", which is related to the Latin verb "adolescere", meaning "to grow up". |
| Czech | The word "puberťák" is derived from the Latin word "pubertas" meaning "adulthood". |
| Danish | Teenager (Danish "teenager" or "ungdom") is a person who is 13 to 19 years old. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "adolescent" specifically refers to male teenagers. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "adoleskanto" derives from the Latin "adolescens" and can also mean "young person" or "teenager". |
| Estonian | In Estonian, the word "nooruk" also means "hero" or "brave warrior". |
| Finnish | The word 'murrosikäinen' is derived from 'murrosika', which means 'puberty'. |
| French | The French word "adolescente" can also refer to a young girl, more specifically a teenager or young woman. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "adolesinte" is derived from the Latin word "adolescens", meaning "young person" or "youth". |
| Galician | The Galician word "adolescente" also means "teenager". |
| Georgian | მოზარდი is a Georgian word that also means "a young man" or "a young woman." |
| German | Jugendlicher, meaning "adolescent," comes from "Jugend," or "youth," with the suffix "-lich" denoting "similar to," or "of the nature of." |
| Greek | The word 'έφηβος' in Greek can also refer to a young man who has reached puberty or a 'youth' in general, highlighting the concept of transition and potential in the word. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "किशोरवयना" ("adolescent") derives from the Sanskrit word "किशोर" ("young") and is also used to refer to the period of youth or young adulthood. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "adolesan" in Haitian Creole can also refer to a young adult or a teenager. |
| Hausa | The word 'saurayi' in Hausa also refers to a young animal or a young person who is inexperienced or immature. |
| Hawaiian | 'Ōpio' also means 'tender, unripe, immature, and green'. |
| Hebrew | The word "mitbagger" comes from the root "bgr," meaning "to mature". It can also refer to a young animal that has not yet reached adulthood. |
| Hindi | The Hindi word 'किशोर' has roots in Sanskrit and also means 'youth' or 'young person'. |
| Hmong | The word "tus neeg hluas" can also mean "young adult" or "teenager" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | "Serdülő" is also used to refer to the transition period between childhood and adulthood, typically between the ages of 10 and 19. |
| Icelandic | 'Unglingur' comes from 'ungr,' meaning 'young', and '-lingur,' a suffix indicating a young person or animal. |
| Igbo | "Nwa" can also mean "child" or "son" in Igbo. |
| Indonesian | "Remaja" is derived from the Sanskrit word "rājā" meaning "king" or "prince", referring to the transition to adulthood in traditional Javanese culture. |
| Irish | The word "ógánach" is derived from the Old Irish word "óg, |
| Italian | The word "adolescente" in Italian can also refer to a young man or woman in their late teens or early 20s. |
| Japanese | The word "青年期" (seinenki) in Japanese can also mean "early adulthood" or "young adulthood," typically referring to the period between late adolescence and the mid-20s. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "cah cilik" can also refer to a young child. |
| Kannada | The term 'ಹರೆಯದ' is not used solely for adolescents, it can also refer to the youth or young adults. |
| Kazakh | "Жасөспірім" is a Kazakh word that can refer to either a teenage boy or girl. |
| Khmer | The term "មនុស្សវ័យជំទង់" can also refer to a person who is transitioning from childhood to adulthood, or to a person who is in their early twenties. |
| Korean | The first character, 한, means "full"; The second character, 창, means "bright, radiant"; The third character, 젊은, means "prime of life, youth, puberty." |
| Kurdish | The word 'ciwanan' can also refer to a young warrior or a member of a youth organization. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "өспүрүм" is derived from the verb "өс-" meaning "to grow". |
| Lao | In colloquial Lao, the term ໄວລຸ້ນ may also refer to youth, teenager, or young person. |
| Latin | "Adulescens" originally meant "young man" and referred to the age from puberty to military service. |
| Latvian | The word “pusaudzis” comes from the words “pus” (“half”) and “audze” (“bringing up”). |
| Lithuanian | The word “paauglys” is derived from the word “paauglis” meaning “growing up” or “becoming an adult”. |
| Luxembourgish | The word "Jugendlecher" can also refer to a young tree. |
| Macedonian | The Macedonian word адолесцент comes from the Latin word adolescēns, which means “young person” or “youth”. |
| Malagasy | The word 'tanora' can also refer to 'greenness', 'immaturity', or 'inexperience'. |
| Malay | "Remaja" is a Malay word derived from Sanskrit and originally meant "young warrior" or "knight in training". |
| Malayalam | The word "ക o മാരക്കാരൻ" in Malayalam literally means "a person who has just had his hair tied up into a bun". |
| Maltese | Maltese "adolexxenti" comes from Italian "adolescente" and Latin "adolescēns" meaning "growing up". |
| Maori | Taiohi can also refer to a group of young people, or a period of time in a person's life when they are transitioning from childhood to adulthood. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word 'पौगंडावस्थेतील' ultimately derives from Sanskrit 'पुगाण्ड' meaning "age, maturity". The Sanskrit term is the antonym of 'वार्धक्य', meaning "old-age". |
| Nepali | The word "किशोर" in Nepali can also refer to "a person who has just entered puberty" or "a young person who is not yet an adult". |
| Norwegian | "Tenåring" can also mean "teenager" or "teen" in English. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'wachinyamata' can also refer to a group of people who are roughly the same age. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word ځوان /ځوانه for "adolescent" can also mean "young" or "inexperienced" in both genders |
| Persian | The word "نوجوان" is derived from "نو" (new) and "جوان" (young), meaning "a youth who has just entered adulthood." |
| Polish | Dorastający is derived from the verb "dorastać," which means "to grow up," and is used to refer to young people who are in the process of becoming adults. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Adolescente" is an ambiguous term in Portuguese, as it can refer to either a teenager or a young adult. |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word "ਕਿਸ਼ੋਰ" also refers to the time of the day between noon and evening. |
| Romanian | In Latin and Romanian the etymology of "adolescent" is the same |
| Russian | Подросток literally means "undergrowth", referring to the idea of young people being like the undergrowth beneath a forest canopy. |
| Samoan | The word "talavou" can also refer to a group of young people, or to a boy who is considered to be marriageable age. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "òganach" in Scots Gaelic also means "young person" or "youthful person." |
| Serbian | In Serbian, the word "адолесцент" is also used to refer to a young man who is not yet married. |
| Sesotho | In Sesotho, 'mocha' also refers to a type of tree or its fruit. |
| Shona | The Shona word "kuyaruka" also means "to grow taller" or "to become mature". |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "بالغ" is an Arabic loanword which originally means "adult" and "mature". |
| Slovak | The word "dospievajúci" in Slovak comes from the verb "dospieť," which means "to attain maturity" or "to reach adulthood." |
| Slovenian | "Mladostnik" is derived from the word "mlad" (young), and originally meant "young adult" or "novice". |
| Somali | The Somali word "dhalinyaro" originates from the Arabic "dhalah", meaning "youth", and "yaro", meaning "child". |
| Spanish | In Spanish, "adolescente" can also refer to a young apprentice or beginner in a profession. |
| Sundanese | The word 'rumaja' comes from Old Sundanese 'ramaja', which means 'young man or woman' or 'child' in a more formal sense. |
| Swahili | In Swahili, the term "kijana" can also refer to a young person of either sex, or a person who is new to something. |
| Swedish | "Tonåring" contains the Swedish word "ton" which means "tune" and refers to the age of being "in tune" with one's body and emotions. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "nagdadalaga" is derived from the root word "dalaga", which means "young woman". It is also used to describe the transition from childhood to adulthood for both males and females. |
| Tajik | The word "наврас" in Tajik also refers to a "young man" or a "bridegroom". |
| Telugu | The word "కౌమారదశ" originates from the Sanskrit word "kumar"," meaning young person. |
| Thai | "วัยรุ่น" (adolescent) comes from the Sanskrit word "vara" meaning "best" or "excellent" and "ruan" meaning "season" or "time". So it literally means "the best time of life". |
| Turkish | "Ergen" also means "one who has reached maturity" in Old Turkish, and it still carries this meaning in some Anatolian dialects. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "підлітковий" is derived from the word "підліток" (adolescent), which in turn comes from the verb "підлітати" (to fly up), referring to the transitional nature of adolescence. |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "جوانی" also means "youthfulness" or "freshness". |
| Uzbek | In Turkic, "o'spirin" also means "unripe fruit". |
| Vietnamese | The word "thanh niên" is a combination of two Chinese characters meaning "young" and "person", and it can also refer to a young person who is between the ages of 16 and 24. |
| Welsh | The word 'glasoed' in Welsh originally meant 'pale green', and only later came to mean 'young' or 'adolescent'. |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word 'ofikisayo' is often used as a term of respect when referring to an adolescent. |
| Yiddish | "אַדאַלעסאַנט" is a Yiddish loanword from French that also means "well-mannered". |
| Yoruba | 'Ọdọ' in Yoruba also means 'river'. The two meanings are connected by the concept of 'flow'. |
| Zulu | "Osemusha" is also the Zulu name for the yellow billed kite, a medium-sized bird of prey. |
| English | The word "adolescent" can also refer to the time period between youth and adulthood, or a person between the ages of 13 and 19. |