Where does “teenager” come from?
Teenager derives from English age plus the suffix -teen, which comes from Old French -er, Latin -are, and ultimately Latin aevum meaning "lifetime" or "age."
teenager (English): A person between 13 and 19 years of age; an...
Definitions
- A person between 13 and 19 years of age; an...
Ancestry of “teenager”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | teenage | Brushwood for fences and hedges; Of or relating... |
| 2 | English | age | The whole duration of a being, whether animal,... |
| 3 | Middle English | age | The age of someone or rarely something; how old someone is |
| 4 | Old French | aage | age |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | aetaticum | age |
| 6 | Latin | aetās | the period of a life: lifetime, lifespan |
| 7 | Latin | aevitās | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | aiwotāts | age |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eyu- | vitality; eternal; vital force, life, long life,... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ey- | vital force, life, age, eternity; day, morning |