Word
puberty
Phoneticspu·ber·ty
US/ˈpjubɝti/
UK/pjˈuːbəti/
Definitions
01human physical development
n. the period during which a child's body changes physically into an adult body.
n. the developmental phase in humans characterized by the onset of hormonal changes and the development of secondary sexual characteristics.
“Many teenagers feel moody or tired as they go through puberty.”
“During puberty, the pituitary gland releases hormones that signal the body to begin significant physical and emotional transitions into adulthood.”
Synonyms
02botany
n. the time when a plant starts to produce flowers.
n. the period or stage at which a plant begins its first flowering cycle.
“The gardener waited for the young shrubs to reach puberty and bloom.”
“In certain perennial species, the transition to botanical puberty is triggered by specific environmental cues such as day length and temperature.”
Technical
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“After puberty, they typically have a high-pitched voice, breasts and no coarse body hair.” Etymology
From Middle English puberte, from Old French puberté, from Latin pūbertās (“the age of maturity, manhood”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Scan code
englishreference.com/q/puberty