Where does “puberty” come from?
Puberty comes from Middle English pūbertē, from Old French puberté, from Latin pubertas, a noun formed with the suffix -tas from Latin pubis (adult), itself formed with -tus from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning maturity or adulthood.
puberty (English): A developmental phase brought about by the action...
Definitions
- A developmental phase brought about by the action...
Ancestry of “puberty”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | pūbertē | — |
| 2 | Old French | puberté | — |
| 3 | Latin | pubertas | puberty |
| 4 | Latin | -tās | ty, -dom, -hood, -ness, -ship |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |