Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The stage of adolescence in which an individual becomes physiologically capable of sexual reproduction.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The condition of being able to reproduce; sexual maturity in the human race. In males this is usually developed between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, and in females somewhat earlier; and it appears that in very warm climates puberty is reached somewhat sooner than elsewhere. At common law the age of puberty is conclusively presumed to be fourteen in the male and twelve in the female.
- n. In botany, the period when a plant begins to bear flowers.
Wiktionary
- n. the age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The earliest age at which persons are capable of begetting or bearing children, usually considered, in temperate climates, to be about fourteen years in males and twelve in females.
- n. The period when a plant first bears flowers.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the time of life when sex glands become functional
Etymologies
- Middle English puberte, from Old French, from Latin pūbertās, from pūbēs, pūber-, adult.
Examples
“But, apart from such confusions, the term puberty is used in various senses.”
“The term puberty will so often be used in the following chapters that”
“From a business standpoint, the teenage boy going through puberty is the best demographic they can aim for, and in most cases need to aim for if they want to make anything close to a profit.”
“This article by psychology professor J. Michael Bailey explains the distinctions between pedophiles, hebephiles (people — almost unanimously men — attracted to children in puberty) and other sexual orientations or proclivities.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Enough with the Ridiculous Hyperbole!
“Mrs. Sandord bore FOUR BOYS and all of them are either teens or in puberty stage.”
“For instance, “mutant” powers normally manifest in puberty according to the X-men.”
“So, even if Clem on the cusp of puberty is Hail Mary assumption 2 for this episode, it might have worked as a plot point to save the children if anyone had made the slightest effort to develop it.”
“It seemed that we'd hit that magical time in puberty when wisdom teeth had to be removed.”
“USA Today thinks going through puberty is the same as getting fat”
“The drama and anguish with which girls confront such disruptions to their domestic lives are typical both of the narcissism that can make living with a teenage girl one of the most unpleasant experiences God metes out to the unsuspecting, and of the ways that, for women, puberty is the most psychologically complex and emotionally alive experience of their lives.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘puberty’.
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Headlines & Newsmakers
frugality, environment, extinction, bible, killer, jazz, cloning, dead, god, moon, global warming, bailout and 338 more...
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Psychology
stockholm syndrome, stereotype, ergonomics, human-computer in..., prejudice, neo-luddism, stress, trauma, psychopathology, psychotic, neurosis, depression and 180 more...
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