Definitions for adult
əˈdʌlt, ˈæd ʌltadult

Princeton's WordNet(3.60 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. adult, grownup(noun)

   a fully developed person from maturity onward

2. adult(adj)

   any mature animal

3. adult, big, full-grown, fully grown, grown, grownup(adj)

   (of animals) fully developed

   "an adult animal"; "a grown woman"

4. pornographic, adult(adj)

   designed to arouse lust

   "pornographic films and magazines"; "adult movies"

Wiktionary(2.67 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. adult(Noun)

   A fully grown human or animal.

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

2. adult(Noun)

   A person who lives outside the parental home.

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

3. adult(Noun)

   A person whose parents are deceased.

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

4. adult(Adjective)

   Of a human or animal, fully grown.

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

5. adult(Adjective)

   Intended for adults rather than children.

   adult clothes

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

6. adult(Adjective)

   Containing material of an explicit sexual nature

   Etymology: adulte, adultus, past participle of adolescere; see adolescent.

Wikipedia(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   Biologically, an adult is a human or other organism that has reached sexual maturity. In human context, the term adult additionally has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a "minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible. The typical age of attaining legal adulthood is 18, although definition may vary by legal rights and country. Human adulthood encompasses psychological adult development. Definitions of adulthood are often inconsistent and contradictory; a person may be biologically an adult, and have adult behavior but still be treated as a child if they are under the legal age of majority. Conversely, one may legally be an adult but possess none of the maturity and responsibility that may define an adult character. In different cultures there are events that relate passing from being a child to becoming an adult or coming of age. This often encompasses the passing a series of tests to demonstrate that a person is prepared for adulthood, or reaching a specified age, sometimes in conjunction with demonstrating preparation. Most modern societies determine legal adulthood based on reaching a legally specified age without requiring a demonstration of physical maturity or preparation for adulthood.

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Adult(adj)

   having arrived at maturity, or to full size and strength; matured; as, an adult person or plant; an adult ape; an adult age

   Etymology: [L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old.]

2. Adult(noun)

   a person, animal, or plant grown to full size and strength; one who has reached maturity

   Etymology: [L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old.]

Freebase(4.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   Biologically, an adult is a human being or other organism that is of reproductive age. In human context, the term adult additionally has meanings associated with social and legal concepts; for example, a legal adult is a legal concept for a person who has attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible. In addition, human adulthood encompasses psychological adult development. Definitions of adulthood are often inconsistent and contradictory; a person may be biologically an adult, and have adult behavior but still be treated as a child if they are under the legal age of majority. Conversely, one may legally be an adult but possess none of the maturity and responsibility that may define adult character. An event relating to the oncoming of adulthood is coming of age, which encompasses passing a series of tests to demonstrate that a person is prepared for adulthood, or reaching a specified age, sometimes in conjunction with demonstrating preparation. Most modern societies determine legal adulthood based on reaching a legally specified age without requiring a demonstration of physical maturity or preparation for adulthood.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   ad-ult′, adj. grown: mature.—n. a grown-up person.—n. Adult′ness. [L. adultus—adolescĕre, to grow. See Adolescent.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine(2.50 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age.

Editors Contribution(2.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. adult

   A person of a known specific age defined in legislation.

   In some countries the defined legal age of an adult is 16, in other countries it is 18.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 16, 2020  

Entomology(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Adult

   the stage when an insect is sexually mature and ready to reproduce normally.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'adult' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2240

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'adult' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3659

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'adult' in Nouns Frequency: #601

How to pronounce adult?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say adult in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of adult in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of adult in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of adult in a Sentence

1. Wesley Anderson:

   The normal adult filters and belief systems of what is and what isn't will start to fade, clients become almost childlike.

2. Peter Feaver:

   I think the adult candidates have an opportunity, this is why we elect serious leaders.

3. Matthew Carrano:

   I knew that we needed something dramatic for what would inevitably be a centerpiece of the hall. And these are two dinosaur species that co-existed 68-66 million years ago in western North America, so it would represent a possible real-world interaction, but we've deliberately left the scenario open, as to whether this represents T. rex killing Triceratops or scavenging an already dead individual. The idea is to better portray the role of an apex predator, which is often opportunistic. In life, I imagine that even T. rex would have favored easier meals than a healthy, adult Triceratops – if such were available: young or sick or elderly individuals, for example.

4. Michael Bowers:

   One thing that struck me most of a manger, is the wide variety of people who come in, we see older customers bring in their adult children. It's normal people using it. It's everyday people in your neighborhood.

5. Anthony Fauci:

   There are only individual case reports of significant neurological damage to people not just the fetuses but an adult that would get infected. Things that they call meningoencephalitis, which is an inflammation of the brain and the covering around the brain, spinal cord damage due to what we call myelitis, so far they look unusual, but at least we've seen them and that's concerning.

Images & Illustrations of adult

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