adolescent

Etymology

First attested ?1440, from Middle English adolescent, from Middle French adolescent or directly from Latin adolescentem, accusative form of adolescens, present participle of adolēscere (“to become adult, grow up”), from ad- (“to”) + alēscere (“to grow or become nourished”). The adjective first appeared in 1785.

adj

1. Of, relating to, or at the age of adolescence; at the stage between being a child and an adult.
   Schools, unless discipline were doubly strong, / Detain their adolescent charge too long. 1785, William Cowper, Tirocinium
   Again, voice change is not easy and vulnerability plays a big part, but if choral teachers and adolescent singers approach it with the right mindframe, the experience can be empowering, enlightening, and restorative for all involved. 2019, Bridget Sweet, Thinking Outside the Voice Box, page 71

noun

1. A person who is in adolescence; someone who has reached puberty but is not yet an adult.
   ‘A healthy adolescent might be expected to produce five hundred billion blood cells a day.’ 2014, Ian McEwan, The Children Act, Penguin Random House (2018), page 66