adulthood
UK[ˈædʌlthʊd]US[əˈdʌlthʊd]
n
the state or time of being an adult; the period of life after childhood and adolescence.
Morpheme Breakdown
adult
hood
adult
grown-up
hood
state or condition
Etymology
the word 'adulthood' is a modern english compound formed from the noun 'adult' and the native english suffix '-hood'. 'adult' originates from the latin verb adolescere, meaning 'to grow up, mature', with its past participle adultus signifying 'having grown up'. the suffix '-hood', descended from old english -hād, consistently denotes a state, condition, or period of life, as seen in words like 'childhood' and 'neighborhood'. therefore, 'adulthood' logically constructs the abstract concept of 'the state or condition of being a grown-up', directly linking the latin-derived notion of maturity with the germanic grammatical marker for a state of being.
Analysis
Structure: adult (grown-up) + hood (state or condition)
adult: from latin adultus, past participle of adolescere meaning 'to grow up'. functions as the base noun.
hood: from old english -hād, meaning 'state, condition, quality'. functions as a noun-forming suffix.
Examples
the legal transition to adulthood occurs at age 18 in many countries.
he took on significant financial responsibilities upon reaching adulthood.
the study focused on mental health challenges in early adulthood.