juvenile

The word 'juvenile' originates from the Latin adjective iuvenilis, meaning "youthful," which itself derives from iuvenis, meaning "young man" or "youth." This Latin root can be traced further back to the Proto-Indo-European root h₂yéwHōn, meaning "young" or "vital force," a root also shared by words like 'young' and 'junior.' The suffix -ilis was a productive Latin adjectival suffix. Over time, the term evolved from its literal sense of "pertaining to youth" to also acquire the figurative meaning of "immature" or "childish," reflecting a judgment on behavior considered typical of, but not limited to, the young.

Structure: juven (young) + ile (adjective suffix) juven (Latin: iuvenis, meaning "young"); ile (Latin: -ilis, a suffix forming adjectives meaning "pertaining to, capable of")