The Word Teenager Is Younger Than the Teenagers
Teenage describes people aged thirteen to nineteen. The noun teenager only appeared in the 1940s, when the age group became a market.
Teenage describes the years from thirteen to nineteen — the ages whose English names end in *-teen*. The category is newer than it feels: *teenager* is recorded only from the 1940s, when American marketers noticed that young people with money and leisure formed a distinct group worth selling to.
- Aged thirteen to nineteen. *A teenage daughter.*
- Relating to that age. *Teenage fashion.*
- Teenager — a person of that age. *Two teenagers.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | teenage | Teenage years. |
| Noun | teenager | A typical teenager. |
| Plural | teenagers | Local teenagers. |
| Noun | teens | In her teens. |
| Related | adolescent | Adolescent development. |
How it is used in a sentence
- She has two teenage sons.Adjective.
- He is in his late teens.Around eighteen or nineteen.
- Adolescence begins before the teenage years.Puberty typically starts earlier.
Age words
- Child — before adolescence
- Adolescent — going through puberty and its aftermath
- Teenager — defined by the number, not the biology
- Young adult — roughly eighteen to twenty-five
- Minor — under the legal age of majority, usually eighteen
From *teen*, the ending of thirteen to nineteen, from Old English *-tiene*, ten. *Teenager* was popularised in American magazines in the 1940s.
Teenager or adolescent?
Teenager is defined by age. Adolescent is defined by development, which starts earlier and can end later.
Why do twelve and eleven not end in -teen?
Because they come from Old English words meaning one left and two left, counting past ten rather than adding to it.