▪ I. young, a. (n.1)
(jʌŋ)
Forms: α. 1 ᵹeong, ᵹiong, ᵹung, iung, 2 jung, 2–5 (6 Sc.) ȝung, 3 ȝeung, 3–5 ȝeong(e, ȝonge, ȝunge, yung, (6 Sc.) ȝong, 3–7 yong, (4 ȝonke, ȝhoung, yhung), 4–5 yunge, 4–6 yonge, ȝoung(e, (5 yhonge, ȝoyng, 6 yownge, yongue), 6–7 yoong, younge, 6– young. β. 1 ᵹing, 3 ȝuing, 3–5 ȝinge, 4–5 ȝyng(e, 4–6 ȝing, ying, (4 yyng, 5 yinge, yynge, ynge, yhyng). γ. 3 ȝenge, 3–5 ȝeng, (4 ȝeing), 4–5 yeng. See also younger, youngest.
[OE. ᵹeong, ᵹung, iung, (Northumbrian) ᵹing, = OFris., OS. jung, MDu. jonc (Du. jong), MLG. junk (LG. jung), OHG., MHG. junc (G. jung), ON. ungr (Sw., Da. ung), Goth. juggs:—OTeut. *jūŋgaz, contraction of *juwuŋgaz:—Indo-Eur. *juwṇkós (whence Skr. juva{cced}ás youthful, youngling, L. juvencus young bull, W. ieuanc, OIr. ōac, ōc young), f. *juwen- (jūn-, jun-), which is represented also by Skr. y{uacu}van-, yūn-, L. juvenis, comp. jūnior, Lith. jáunas, OSl. junŭ young, L. juventūs, juventa, OIr. óitiu, youth.]
A. adj.
1. That has lived a relatively short time; that is in the early stage of life or growth; youthful: opp. to old a. 1. a. of persons.
not so young as (one) was (or used to be): getting old, advanced in years (colloq., often jocular).
| α Beowulf 13 Ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned ᵹeong in ᵹeardum. a 1000 Andreas 392 Nu synt ᵹeþreade þeᵹnas mine, ᵹeonge guðrincas. a 1100 Aldhelm Gloss. i. 2591 (Napier 70/2) Lactantes, .i. infantes, iung cildra. c 1200 Ormin 1212 Ȝiff þu..hafesst ȝet, tohh þu be ȝung, Elldernemanness late. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 66 A meiden swiðe ȝung of ȝeres. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 7/209 On ouewarde he i-saiȝ a luyte ȝong child. a 1300 Cursor M. 12460 Quen iesus com in-to þat scole, Þof he was yong was he na fole. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 181 Hit is an vn-Comely Couple be Cryst, as me þinkeþ, To ȝeuen a ȝong wenche to an old feble Mon. 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 322 His air..his land sall weild, All be he neuir so ȝhoung of eild. c 1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Aug. iii, Wher ȝong damesellis be with chateryng tongis. c 1460 Emare 707 Up he toke that fayre ladye, And the yonge chylde her by. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. (1895) 162 The nourceis sitte seuerall alone with their yonge suckelinges. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 185 Philip..died young before his Father. 1682 Dryden Mac. Fl. 3 Who, like Augustus, young Was call'd to Empire and had govern'd long. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. xvi, He..instructed the young boys in the games of hustle-cap, leap-frog, and chuck-farthing. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xli, Young in years but old in grief. 1852 Miss Mulock Agatha's Husb. vii, Judging such things by what they were when I was young. Ibid., He is not so young as he used to be. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxxvii, George Hawker, it's many years since we met, and I'm not so young as I was. 1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. vi, Somehow the laugh had made her look young and pretty again. |
| β a 900 Cynewulf Elene 353 Ic up ahof eaforan ᵹinge. Ibid. 464 Onᵹit, guma ᵹinga, godes heahmæᵹen, nerᵹendes naman. c 1250 [see young woman 1]. a 1300 Cursor M. 3224 A sargiant..Þat had ben als of his fostring, Ai siþen he was a barn ying. 13.. Coer de L. 924 Forleyn was his doughter yyng. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 195 That ageynys oo maydyn tendyr & ying Fyfty greth clerkys þou doost furth bryng. c 1450 Merlin 198 As soone as thei hem saugh, thei ne douted nothinge so small a peple that were so ynge. 1522 World & Child A ij b, I wyll the fynde whyle thou art yinge, So thou wylte be obedyent to my byddynge. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xvii. 188 In him I hope releif, Of ȝeiris thocht he be ȝing. a 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxxiv. 2 Sueit thing, bening and ȝing. |
| γ c 1205 Lay. 3123 He wes a ȝenge king. 13.. Cursor M. 24030 (Gött.), Þat wreche womman ȝeng [rime steng]. c 1400 [see young man 1]. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3305 Among the lordes old and yeng For gladnes of thes new tithing. c 1450 Cursor M. 10618 (Laud) There was no maide of none ospryng So holy of lyf old nor yeng. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 591 He had sex childre ȝeng A lang tyme in his kepyng. |
b. (
a) In collocations of specific meaning, as
young creature,
young folk(s,
young fry,
young master,
young people,
young person,
young thing: see the
ns. creature 3,
folk 3, 4,
fry1 4 b,
master n.1 23,
people 6 b,
person 2 e,
thing1 10, and
quots. below.
young one:
† a young person; (usually with
poss.) offspring,
pl. young ones, offspring, progeny;
= B. 2; also in
colloq. form
young 'un,
youngun = youngster. See also
young lady,
young man,
young woman, and C. below.
Certain collocations,
e.g. young man,
gentleman,
woman,
lady, are
colloq. used vocatively in addressing reproof or warning to persons of almost any age. See
young man 1,
quot. 1865,
young woman 1,
quot. 1864.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6446 Awey seli ȝonge þinges. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1526 Ȝe..Oghe to a ȝonke þynk ȝern to schewe, & teche sum tokenez of trweluf craftes. 1382 Wyclif Mark xvi. 5 Thei goynge yn into the sepulcre syȝen a ȝong oon, hilid with a whit stoole. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 147 Ful seelde is, þat ȝong folk wyse been. c 1450 Brut ii. 349 A yong creature of ix yere of age, Dame Isabell. 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. iv. (1883) 55 That the yonge peple shold not haue but on gowne or garment in the yere. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 3 Mony guyd men and vemen and specialie ȝung persons. 1535 Coverdale Isa. xi. 7 The cowe and the Bere shal fede together, and their yongones shal lye together. 1542 [see thing n.1 10]. 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 303 Dead though she be, she feeles her yong one kicke. 1605 ― Macb. iv. ii. 11 The poore Wren..will fight, Her yong ones in her Nest, against the Owle. 1653 W. Harvey Anat. Exerc. xi. 53 The superficies of this Island (in the moneths of May and June) is almost covered quite over with Nests, Egges, and Young-Ones. 1693 Humours Town 118 If you want a Foil, as indeed 'tis generally the Care of you young Ones, now-a-days, to get one that's Ugly or Old. 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1720) IV. 190 My Eyes, like most young Peoples, were perpetually at the Windows. 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom viii, Certain dangerous books, calculated to debauch the minds of young people. c 1810 W. Hickey Mem. (1960) iv. 64 So the young'un there wanted to be off, but I said as how I knew a trick worth two of that. 1814 Scott Wav. lxxi, The Baron, while he assumed the lower end of the table, insisted that Lady Emily should do the honours of the head, that they might, he said, set a meet example to the young folk. 1833 [see folk 3 b]. 1838 Egan Pilgr. Thames x. 200 ‘Where's the kids?’ ‘Kids!’ reiterated Mrs. Brindle, interrogatively. ‘Yes, the young 'uns!’ said Mrs. Bodger. ‘Oh, the children!’ 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xviii, Dinah would..tell all marauding ‘young uns’..to keep out of the kitchen. 1852 Miss Mulock Agatha's Husb. x, The young couple were excellent listeners. 1855 Leifchild Cornwall 281 ‘Young persons’ have been defined to be males and females from thirteen to eighteen years of age. 1860 Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. iii. iii, Well, young sir, we've been talking as we should want your pen and ink. 1876 M. E. Braddon J. Haggard's Dau. i, You beware o' that young 'un. He's bound to be your foe. 1886 Besant Childr. Gibeon i. ix, She could be properly described as a Young Girl, which is the general name for the workwoman in youth, but no one would think of calling her a young lady. 1918 Act 8 & 9 Geo. V, c. 39. §48 The expression ‘young person’ means a person under eighteen years of age who is no longer a child. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 418 Collar the leather, Youngun. 1940 C. McCullers Heart is Lonely Hunter i. iv. 56 A youngun was sitting on the banisters... He had seen her somewhere before. 1981 J. D. MacDonald Free Fall in Crimson xix. 219 Here and there are little groups of younguns who know what an original idea tastes like. |
(
b) Such collocations may be used
attrib. or as
adj., may be converted into verbs, or may take a suffix;
e.g. young-girl adj. (pertaining to a young girl), hence
young-girlish adj.,
young-girlishly adv.;
young-master vb. (to address or treat as a young master);
young-gentlemanly adj. (pertaining to or characteristic of a young gentleman).
| 1613 Sidney's Arcadia ii. xxix. (ed. 4) 210 Looking to haue bin yong-mastred among those great estates, as he was among his abusing vnderlings. 1854 Thackeray Leech's Pict. Wks. 1900 XIII. 488 What fine young-gentlemanly wags they are. 1868 Sill Hermitage i, A well-bred, fair, young-gentlemanly life. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. ix, She was absorbed in..her own young-girl dreams. 1928 A. Huxley Point Counter Point xi. 174 She flushed with a young-girlishly timid pleasure. 1975 New Yorker 28 Apr. 66/3 Her young-girlish way of lowering her eyes with an air of anguish when I asked her what had happened to her affair with the man she said she had loved. |
c. Used to distinguish the younger of two persons of the same name or title in a family (
esp. a son from his father); equivalent to
junior.
| 1340 Ayenb. 48 Þe holy mayde sare þet zeþþe wes yonge thobyes wyf. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 216 Scipio the ying. ? a 1461 Stonor Papers (Camden) I. 55 Yn Abraham tyme, and in Balky tyme the yongge. 1533 Bellenden Livy i. xviii. (S.T.S.) I. 101 Ȝoung [v.r. ȝing] terquyne and þis feirs tullia war maryit togiddir. 1563–1693 [see master n.1 23]. 1572 in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm. 1899) I. 23 For maring of zoung Quein Marie with Prince Edward. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. §147 The chief leaders, Nathaniel Fynes and young Sir H. Vane. 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom xliii, Young Melvil..implicitly believed the story and protestations of Fathom. 1817 M. Edgeworth Ormond i, Young Ormond was the son of the friend of Sir Ulick O'Shane's youthful and warm-hearted days. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay xi, Lady Frances keeps her dower, and young Deering the estates for his life. |
d. of animals (or their flesh as food).
young fry: see
fry n.1 4.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xv. 23 Uitulum saginatum, ᵹing oxo fætt. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 201 Ðe neddre bileued hire hude baften hire, and cumeð newe fel and hie wurð jung. 1390 in W. Hudson Leet Jurisd. Norwich (1892) 73 Capere yongfry in Regia Ripa et vendere hominibus de Crowmeer..pro bayte. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 54 Take kydes Fleyssche & ȝong porke. c 1440 York Myst. ix. 139 Of beestis and foules ȝynge,..a peyre. 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 82 Thy colts for thy saddle geld yoong to be light. 1599 Porter Angry Wom. Abingt. (Percy Soc.) 43 As soone goes the yong sheep to the pot as the olde. 1653 W. Harvey Anat. Exerc. v. 20 Pullets or young Hens. c 1730 Ramsay Eagle & Robin 23 A tunefull Robin trig and ȝung. 1803–6 Wordsw. Ode Intim. Immort. iii, While the young lambs bound As to the tabor's sound. 1828 G. F. Lyon Jrnl. Mexico I. 109 A steak which I cooked tasted so like well-fed young pork. |
e. of plants, or their parts or products.
| a 800 Blickl. Glosses in O.E. Texts 122 Þa ᵹingan eletriow. a 1100 Aldhelm Gloss. i. 3750 (Napier 99/2) Iungum wyrtuna ofætum. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1134 Þar tron shulle a ȝere blowe An ȝunge sedes springe & growe. a 1300 Cursor M. 1418 Þar ras o þam thre wandes yong. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 11 Do þer to sage and persely ȝoyng. 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 22 The rosis yong..War powderit brycht with hevinly beriall droppis. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 378 There is a man haunts the Forrest, that abuses our yong plants with caruing Rosalinde on their barkes. 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. vi. 108 If it [sc. cross-grain] grew up young with the Trunk, then instead of a Knot you will find a Curling in the Stuff when it is wrought. 1716 ‘H. S. Philokepos’ Yng. Gard. Director 108 Young Onions. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. 15 The sunny colouring of the young leaves. 1828 G. F. Lyon Jrnl. Mexico II. 249 The cattle..make sad incursions amongst the young crops. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 29 The heart wood is..of a darker colour than the soft or young wood. |
2. transf. Belonging or pertaining to a young person or persons, or to youth.
a. with
age,
days,
years, etc.: the age or time when one is young; youth.
Obs. exc. in
young days.
| c 1000 Rule St. Benet (1888) 99 Ᵹif he þæt sylfe cild on iunre ylde is. a 1100 Aldhelm Gloss. i. 2275 (Napier 61/2) Iunges cildhades. Ibid. 2843 (77/1) Teneritudine, iungan iuᵹeþe. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 492 This hanselle has Arthur of auenturus on fyrst, In ȝonge ȝer. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 53 Children in ȝonge age. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 131 Whan his ȝong dayes were go, he went to Rome. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 79 At these yong yeres of age. c 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xiv. 27 Than vp thow rasit to reule my Ring, In to my tender yeiris ȝing. c 1610 Women Saints (1886) 77 Cuthburge..from her yong yeares soughte to please Christ. 1852 Miss Mulock Agatha's Husb. xv, A remnant of my young days. |
b. of bodily members, faculties, acts, etc.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 1434 His ȝunge blod hit draȝeþ amis. c 1400 Brut i. 251 He was wonder sory, and ful hertly wepte wiþ his ȝonge eyne. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 308 Ane ȝoung stomack..of groiss meittis.. ma tak skayth and harme. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 204 Hauyng a yonge and a lusty courage,..he set on hys enemyes. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. i. 47 By Loue, the yong, and tender wit Is turn'd to folly. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. xi, She..made eyes at him, and directed her young smiles at him. 1876 M. E. Braddon J. Haggard's Dau. i, A homily, in which he held up to his son the picture of his young infirmities. 1883 D. C. Murray Hearts ix. (1885) 66 A young eye beneath a grey eyebrow is a prettier thing than a grey head on young shoulders. |
3. Having the characteristics of young persons, or of youth; youthful in bodily condition or mental disposition (with various connotations);
esp. having the freshness or vigour of youth.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 1400 To se the a quene wyll make vs yonge agayne. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. i. 57 Oli. What Boy. Orl. Come, come elder brother, you are too yong in this. 1678 Wanley Wond. Lit. World i. xxxii. 52 An old Abbatess, being decrepit, suddenly became young, her monthly courses return'd [etc.]. 1712 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to W. Montagu 9 Dec., 'Tis a maxim with me to be young as long as one can. 1815 J. C. Hobhouse Substance Lett. (1816) I. 454 Napoleon's mother.., a very handsome, regular featured, princely personage, young of her age. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. Lucy, The affectation of age and wisdom, which contrast so oddly with his young unmeaning face. 1858 Trollope Dr. Thorne iii, Mr. Gresham was young for his age, and the doctor old. 1894 M. Pemberton Sea-Wolves i, Why, man, she must be a hundred and four, and young at that. |
4. a. That has newly or not long since entered upon some course of action, or having the character of such a one; newly or recently initiated; inexperienced, or having little experience; unpractised; ‘raw’.
Also in Australian use, Newly arrived; that is a new-comer.
| a 1100 Aldhelm Gloss. i. 1673 (Napier 45/1) Iungum, neutericis, i. nouellis (catholicæ fidei sectatoribus). a 1200 Moral Ode 4 Þah ich bo a wintre ald, to ȝung ich em on rede. 1340 Ayenb. 162 Nou yziȝ ane yongne boryeis and ane newene kniȝt. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. vii, Quhich to declare my scole is ouer ȝong. 1496–7 Act 12 Hen. VII, c. 6 The seid felishippe and Marchauntes of London take of every English man or yonge merchaunte beyng there att his first commyng xx li. sterling. 1561 Winȝet Bk. Questions Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 101 Men in this vocatioun..suld nocht be ȝoung of leirning. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 144 We are yet but yong indeed. 1650 T. Hubbert Pill Formality 161 Its not with thee as with a yong Christian. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack iv. (1840) 67, I was but young at the work. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., Montriul, The landlord supposing I was young in French. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Study Nat. (1799) II. 77 We are still so young in the study of Nature. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxxi, ‘Matey, what station are you on?’ ‘Maraganoa’, says he. ‘So’, says I, ‘you're rather young there, ain't you?’ 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Young gentlemen, a general designation for midshipmen, whatever their age. |
† b. transf. Characteristic of a young person, or of a beginner; showing inexperience; juvenile; immature;
occas. childish, infantile.
Obs.| c 1200 Moral Ode 10 (Trin. Coll. MS.), Fele idel word ich habbe ispeken seðen ich speken cuðe, And fele ȝeunge [v.r. ȝuinge] dade idon þe me ofðinkeð nuðe. 1623 Cockeram ii, Young, childish. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 9 To excuse his young Experience. 1718 J. Hughes in J. Duncombe's Lett. (1773) I. 205 He has..inserted some trifles of mine which were very young performances. |
5. a. Of a thing (concrete or abstract): That is in its early stage; lately begun, formed, introduced, or brought into use; not far advanced; recent, new.
In
quot. 1402 applied to something resulting or ‘springing’ from something else, as compared to offspring (
cf. 1 d).
| 1402 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 103 And alle siche ȝonge impossibilitees folowen therof. 1538 Elyot, Mustus.., newe, yonge, late made. 1553 Respublica iii. iii. 731 It ys but yong daies yet. 1569 T. Underdown Heliodorus vii. 93 b, A little yonge yellowe bearde. 1577 Harrison England ii. ii. (1877) i. 50 Oxford hath Oxfordshire onelie, a verie yoong iurisdiction, erected by king Henrie the eight. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. i. 166 Rom. Is the day so young? Ben. But new strooke nine. 1631 Markham Country Contentm. (ed. 4) i. xiii. 89 Take the Kidney-Tallow of a Sheep, and as much young Cheese. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 64 While yet the Spring is young. Ibid. iii. 752 Such are the Symptoms of the young Disease. 1743 Lond. & Country Brewer ii. (ed. 2) 113 To tun or put up their Drink young, as the Brewers call it, that is before it hath, fermented too much. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxxviii, It's a young country, but there's been muckle wickedness done in it. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xvi, The water..spread with that young blue which never lives beyond the April. 1880 O. Crawfurd Portugal 253 New port wine—the trade speak of it as young wine. 1884 Besant Dorothy Forster xi, They..left the table when the night was yet young, and the bottle just beginning. 1886 Cumming Electr. treated Experim. (1887) 63 It is..necessary, while the ship is young, to make a new correction for magnetism after each voyage. 1893 Stevenson Catriona iii, A..gabled house set by the walk-side among some brave young woods. 1913 Times 13 Sept. 15/6 [This] was a severe tax on a young concern not earning profits. |
b. Applied to the moon in the early part of the lunar month, soon after ‘new moon’, when it appears as a crescent.
In
quot. c 1386 applied to the sun at the season just after the vernal equinox.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 8 The yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne. 1813 [see May moon s.v. May n.3 5]. 1821 Shelley Hellas 168 When the young moon is westering as now. 1849 H. W. Herbert Frank Forester III. 95 The dark azure vault, up which the thread-like crescent of the young moon was climbing. |
c. spec. in nautical uses (see
quots.).
| 1596 Sir W. Slingsby Voy. Cadiz (Navy Rec. Soc. XX.) 71 At six hours' end,..upon the opportunity of the young flood, the San Felipe, the San Matias, the San Andrés, and the San Tomaso..were abandoned by the Spaniards. 1774 C. J. Phipps Voy. N. Pole 60 The pools of water in the middle of the pieces were frozen over with young ice. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle i, We..ran up the river with the young flood for about an hour. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xv. (1856) 109 The ‘young’, or as it is called by the whalers, the ‘bay ice’. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v. Flood, When the water begins to rise, it is called a young flood. Ibid., Young wind, the commencement of the land or sea breeze. |
† d. young with child: newly pregnant, in the early stage of pregnancy; also loosely used for ‘pregnant’ (
app. by confusion of
with child and
with young).
Obs.| 1613–18 Daniel Coll. Hist. Eng. (1626) 187 Charles [King of France] dying leaues his Wife young with childe. 1652 French Yorksh. Spaw viii. 78 When they have been very young with child. 1758 C. Lennox Henrietta i. x, My mother, being young with child when my father died, miscarried. a 1800 T. Bellamy Beggar Boy (1801) III. 51 When my father was commanded on board, he left my mother young with child of me. |
6. a. fig. Small, diminutive, miniature, not fullsized. Now
colloq. and
jocular.
| 1550 J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Heralds §8 (1877) 60 We have in England great corne countres, groves, yongsprynges, great ryvers and swete brockes. 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 173 It is best to bring from the Sea, little Rockes with the weedes and all vppon them, and to place them in the middest of your Ponds, and to make a young Sea of them. 1851 Amer. Mag. Nov. 92 I'll turn all the drawers inside out, wus than a young earthquake. 1854 Grace Greenwood Haps & Mishaps 10, I left Liverpool on an afternoon of unusual brightness, but plunged immediately into a young night, in the shape of the longest tunnel I ever passed through. 1885 W. T. Hornaday Two Yrs. in Jungle xvii. 192 Such a weapon is really a young cannon. |
† b. Technically applied to a lens of low magnifying power.
Obs.| 1667 Pepys Diary 4 Nov., To Turlington, the great spectacle-maker,..who dissuades me from using old spectacles, but rather young ones. 1718 J. Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. (1730) I. xii. §22 To speak in the Language of the Glass-Grinders, of younger or older Spectacles. |
B. absol. or as n. 1. a. absol. in
pl. sense (with
def. art., or without
art. in conjunction with
old): Young people.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxxvii[i]. 63 Juvenes eorum comedit ignis, ᵹunge heara et fyr. c 1000 Rule of Chrodegang ii, æfre þa ᵹeongan wurðian þa ealdan, & þa ealdan lufien þa ᵹingran. c 1205 Lay. 28444 Þa ȝeonge and þa alde alle he aqualde. a 1300 Cursor M. 20495 Ȝong and ald and euerilkan All þar fell to slepe onan. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 112 And how that love among the yonge Began the hertes thanne awake. c 1460 Towneley Myst. ix. 217 Therfor thou byd both old and ying, That ich man know me for his kyng. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 29 Cum ȝung and auld, baith man and wyfe, I will ȝow giue Eternall lyfe. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 118 He wooes both high and low, both rich and poor, both yong and old. 1611 Bible 2 Macc. v. 13 Thus there was killing of yong and old. 1632 [see old a. 1]. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 207 ¶1 Old Age, which is a Decay from that Vigour which the Young possess. 1770 [see old a. 1]. 1817 M. Edgeworth Ormond i, She saw herself surrounded by the young, the fair, and the gay. 1841–4 [see old a. 1]. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate v, I have always lived with people older than myself,..so I do not feel it, though it is very nice to be with the young. |
† b. absol. or as n. sing. A young person,
esp. a young woman or girl.
Obs.| c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xlix. 385 Ðu ᵹionga, bio ðe uniðe to clipianne & to læranne. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xix. 20 Þa cwæð se ᵹeonga, eall þiss ic ᵹeheold. a 1300 K. Horn 137 (Cambr. MS.) ‘Feren’, quaþ he, ‘ȝonge [v.r. ȝynge], Ihc telle ȝou tiþinge.’ 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 951 Vn-lyke on to loke þo ladyes were, For if þe ȝonge was ȝep, ȝolȝe was þat oþer. ? 1402 in Yorksh. Archæol. Jrnl. (1909) XX. 43 Vlixes..Brak hir his trowth, & toke another yhyng, Circes, to loue. c 1430 [see yeply 2]. 14.. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 77 This goodly yong and fresche of face. |
c. as
n. in pl. Young or newly initiated persons, new-comers, novices.
nonce-use.
| 1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 Aug. 2/2 Although the ‘Olds’ have been the pioneers..of the movement, the ‘Youngs’ show an impatience with them at every meeting. |
2. † a. A young one;
esp. with
a and
pl. (chiefly in imitation of foreign idiom).
Obs. rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10977 Til þat he be born, þat yung, Þan sal he do þe haue þe tung. c 1520 Andrew Noble Lyfe xxxviii. in Babees Bk. (1868) 234 Halata is a beste that dothe on-naturall dedys, for whan she feleth her yonges quycke, or stere in her body, than she draweth them out & loketh vpon them. 1527 ― Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters F ij b, A Scorpyon, whyche kylleth the yonges of the lyon with his venymous stynges. 1759 B. Stillingfleet tr. Riberg's Econ. Nat. in Misc. Tracts (1762) 90 The elephant scarcely produces one young in two years. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIV. 612/1 It [sc. the great seal] breeds about the month of March, and brings forth a single young on the ice. |
b. Young animals collectively in relation to the parent; young ones, offspring.
| 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xiii, The tree where vpon the egle and his yonge were in theyr nest. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxxiii[i]. 3 The sparow hath founde hir an house, & the swalowe a nest, where she maye laye hir yonge. ― Jer. xvii. 11 The disceatfull maketh a nest, but bringeth forth no yonge. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 863 So then he hath it when he cannot vse it, And leaues it to be maistred by his yong. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 123 Gif a Sou eit his ȝoung, stane him. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 382 'Tis with this rage, the Mother Lion stung, Scours o're the Plain; regardless of her young. 1820 Shelley Witch Atl. vii, The brinded lioness led forth her young. 1849 Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia IV. 63 The field mouse breeds twice in the year, producing from six to ten young at a time. |
c. Phr.
with young (also
in young), of a female animal: Pregnant.
| 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxvii[i]. 71 The yowes greate with yonge. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 35 So many Dayes, my Ewes haue bene with yong. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 241 Goats grow fat when they are with young. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. III. vii. 203 The cat goes with young fifty-six days. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 309 The breeding sow, when in young, and near farrowing, should be kept in good condition. |
† 3. (?
ellipt. for
young age: see the
adj. 2 a.) The time of life when one is young; youth.
rare.
| c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) v. 50 In thi ȝonge lerne God to plese. 1639 G. Daniel Ecclus. End 60 In the strong Estate of Man, and the sweet Time of younge. |
C. Special collocations and Combinations. (See also A. 1 b.)
1. a. With the names of countries or their inhabitants, in the designations of political parties chiefly composed of young men: as
young (or Young) America, (
a) a slogan used in connection with an expansionist movement within the Democratic Party in the 1840s and 1850s (
obs. exc. Hist.); (
b) American youth collectively;
Young England, name assumed by a group of Tory politicians in the early part of the reign of Queen Victoria (hence
Young-Englander, a member of this group;
Young-Englandism, the principles of ‘Young England’);
Young Europe, a group of associations of republican agitators of various nations which arose after the July revolution (1830) in France, known severally as
Young France,
Young Germany,
Young Italy,
Young Poland;
Young Ireland, a group of Irish agitators about 1840–50 (hence
Young-Irelander,
Young-Irelandism);
Young Turk, a member of a party of Turkish agitators which brought about the revolution of 1908 (hence
Young Turkish adj.); see also
Turk1 2 e. (Such phrases may also be used in a general sense, as
Young England = the typical young Englishman, or the rising generation of Englishmen.) Also with names of political parties and movements, denoting a young member or (
pl.) a section organized by and for young members, as
Young Communist,
Young Conservative,
Young Farmers, etc.
| 1844 St. Louis Reveille 30 Nov. 2/2 No mammoth bank..can form any part of the creed of the *Young America! 1852 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Feb. 185/2 We are not for all the young men before the country, but only for the bold, active honor and talent of Young America. 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. xxxviii. 444 He and the innocent chatterbox whom I met on the Swiss lake are the most unique and interesting specimens of Young America I came across during my foreign tramping. 1924 Outlook 10 Sept. 45/1 Young America could with profit leave such affairs alone. 1962 E. Wilson Patriotic Gore p. xxii, Douglas..had been the leader of the ‘Young America’ movement in the Democratic Party, which had favored..the annexation of Mexico, Cuba and..Central America. |
| 1936 J. Bell Let. 4 Jan. in Ess., Poems & Lett. (1938) ii. 294 While I have been writing these last pages, I have been acutely aware of ‘the adversary’. He takes the form of an enthusiastic member of the *Young Communist League and he bellows incessantly. 1966 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Company I've Kept viii. 188 Some of the Edinburgh University students, members of the Young Communist League,..came to the rescue. 1982 Manch. Guardian Weekly 21 Nov. 10/3 He had a good secondary education and joined the Young Communists in 1923 while he was at a metallurgical school. |
| 1924 Times 17 Mar. 13/5 (heading) The ‘*Young Conservatives Union’. Ibid., This union has been formed by Young Conservatives who desire to prove by attaching themselves to constituencies for social service that their Conservative ideal is one which they are prepared to maintain by action. 1938 B. R. Braine in Torchbearer Apr. 41/3 The prefix ‘Junior’ we dislike, and the word ‘Imps’ infers an extreme and irresponsible youthfulness that is certainly not in accordance with reality..I suggest..that we take steps to become the ‘Young Conservative League’. 1944 Times 11 July 2/2 The Conservative Party has decided to establish a new Young Conservative movement which will take the place of the Junior Imperial League. 1959 E. H. Clements High Tension x. 165 Fiona isn't a Young Conservative! She's a Communist. 1977 J. Wainwright Do Nothin' till You hear from Me iv. 52 It is a Young Conservative hop, in a neighbouring town. |
| 1838 R. Monckton Milnes Let. to C. J. MacCarthy 13 Mar., I go on with small ‘*Young Englands’ on Sunday evenings, which unfortunately excludes the more severe members—Acland, Gladstone, &c. 1843 Times 17 Aug. 5/2 It is not to defend ‘Young England’..that we make these remarks. 1848 Kingsley Yeast vi, Young England or Peelite, this is all right and noble. 1859 New Sporting Mag. (N.S.) LVIII. 425 Now Master Young England I am afraid I have been rather angry with you. 1886 T. E. Kebbel Hist. Toryism v. 273 That distrust of Sir Robert Peel which alone made the Young England Party possible. |
| 1837 in T. W. Reid R. M. Milnes (1890) I. 205 We may both rejoice that our two *young Englanders [sc. Milnes and Acland] have come out so well. |
| 1848 Kingsley Yeast iii, She would have started as from a snake, from the issue..that Lancelot would fall in love, not with *Young Englandism, but with Argemone Lavington. |
| 1840 T. Gordon tr. W. Menzel's Ger. Lit. IV. 309 The coterie took the name of Young Germany (das junge Deutschland) only, however, as an emanation from *Young Europe. |
| 1968 P. Jennings Living Village 71 The flourishing *Young Farmers Club movement. 1981 J. Wainwright Urge for Justice i. v. 35 The lads from the local Young Farmers branch put on a New Year's Ball. |
| 1835 Ann. Reg., Hist. Eur. 478/1 Germany had found in her political reformers a new school of literature and morals, as well as of civil rights... Under the appellation of ‘*young Germany’, or ‘young literature’, aping the French..disregard of all authority,.. they preached up their extravagant doctrines in corrupting publications. |
| 1845 R. Monckton Milnes Let. to C. J. MacCarthy 26 Mar., *Young Ireland would separate from Rome to-morrow if they dared. 1884 Dict. Eng. Hist. 610/1 The ‘Young Ireland’ party..made a foolish attempt at rebellion in 1848. |
| 1855 Moriarty in W. Ward Life Newman (1912) I. 361, I do not at all share..in Dr. Cullen's distrust of those he calls *Young Irelanders. |
| 1851 Edin. Rev. Jan. 224 Rise and Progress of *Young-Irelandism. |
| 1844 R. Monckton Milnes Let. to C. J. MacCarthy 1 July, Mazzini,..who has been organising a ‘*Young Italian’ descent on Italy from Malta. |
| 1983 Economist 21 May 37/1 As usual, the *Young Liberals attacked it from a neo-Trotskyite stand. |
| 1980 Christian Science Monitor 28 Jan. 12/3, 80,000 pounds—none of which, say the editors, came from abroad. Much of it probably came through the Labour youth movement, *Young Socialists, where the tendency reportedly has strong support. |
| 1901 Scotsman 4 Sept. 7/6 As regards the *Young Turks, the Sultan hopes that Munir Bey will be able to keep them under surveillance. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 17 Aug. 9/1 Salonika, the head-quarters of the Young Turk Party. |
| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 463/2 The *Young Turkish party had long been preparing for the overthrow of the old régime. |
b. In other special collocations, as
young fustic,
young hyson,
Young pretender, for which see the
ns.;
young grammarians n. pl. Philol. [
tr. Ger.]
= Junggrammatiker n. pl.;
cf. neo-grammarian; so
young-grammarian a.;
young lion, a young and vigorous man.
| 1922 Young-grammarian [see Junggrammatiker n. pl.]. 1947 Essays & Studies XXXII. 89 This was bound to shake the young-grammarian theory of the inviolability of the sound laws. |
| 1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ix. 92 Take care of my arm!.. I was..a little in dread of such a young lion! 1917 H. James Middle Years iii. 36 Frederic Harrison..one of his [sc. Matthew Arnold's] too confidently roaring ‘young lions’ of the periodical press. 1937 K. Blixen Out of Africa v. v. 407 It was curious to hear the young Kikuyu lions speak with reverence and awe of..the old dancers. 1977 Listener 17 Feb. 216/2 An orchestra comprising most of the ‘young lions’ from the home front. |
2. Comb. a. Adverbial and predicative, as
young-born (
cf. ‘new-born’: also
absol.),
young-fed,
young-looking,
young-old (old in years but young in condition or disposition),
young-seeming,
young-sprung adjs. b. Parasynthetic, etc. as
young-bladed,
young-conscienced,
young-headed,
young-hearted,
young-minded,
young-winged,
† young-yeared adjs.;
young-blood, a ‘young-blooded’ person, a young hothead; recently revived in
U.S. as a hyphenated or one-word form of
young blood (see
blood n. 15);
† young-head, a headstrong young man. Also
young-eyed,
young-like.
| 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia Ep. (1895) 5 This *yong bladed and newe shotte vp corne. |
| 1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentleman 12 These *Young-blouds use rather, Catiline-like, to speake much, and doe little. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues viii. 106 He was a tall blond good-looking *youngblood. 1979 N.Y. Times Mag. 30 Sept. 28/4 The fault always lay with..veterans rather than the youngbloods that Willis himself had drafted. |
| 1874 Edin. Rev. July 80 The first-fruits of the *young-born eruptive power. 1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow i. 2 Every year throws forward the seed to begetting, and..leaves the young-born on the earth. |
| 1651 Davenant Gondibert ii. vii. xxx, She.., like *Young Conscienc'd Casuists, thinks that sin, Which will by talk and practise lawfull seeme. |
| 1608 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Schisme 1 Rejecting Old, *Young-Counsail'd rash Roboam Loseth Ten Tribes, which fall to Jeroboam. |
| 1598 Mucedorus iv. i. 29 What..*young-fed humour moist within the braine? |
| 1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentleman 12 It is intolerable for these *Young-heads to be opposed: they are deafe to reason. |
| 1588 Fraunce in Brit. Bibliogr. (1812) II. 280 Owld dotinge graye beardes talke muche of Baralipton, whiles *young headed boyes beare awaye logike. |
| 1868 Lynch Rivulet cl. vi, *Young-hearted, gay Summer shall fling Thy doubts away. |
| 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. Mod. Ant., A man of seventy,..but wonderfully *young-looking and well-preserved. |
| 1930 Daily Express 23 May 10/4 The Italians and the Russians are *young-minded. |
| 1558 R. Ramsey Boy Bp.'s Serm. 14 in Camden Misc. (1875) VII, All yow that are no childer, but men, women, and *yonggolds, of years and discretion. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. xiii. 274 Caleb was that young-old man, whose strength contradicted his years. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 21 Feb. 2/1 A tall, ascetic-looking, young-old man. |
| 1951 S. Spender World within World 113 An old man... With *young-seeming nervous fingers he touched the rim of his glass. |
| 1614 R. Tailor Hog hath lost Pearl iv. i, All thy *young sprung griefes shall seeme but sparkes To the great fire of my calamities. |
| 1706 Watts Horæ Lyr. ii. xxxiii. 149 A generous Pair Of *young-wing'd Eaglets. |
| 1596 R. Linche Diella F j b, This *young-year'd Hermit. 1599 ― Fount. Anc. Fiction H ij, A carelesse crue of young-year'd Nimphs. |
▸ Chiefly
humorous. After
old adj. 4a.
—— years young:—— years old, usually with the implication that the person (or
occas. thing) referred to has or retains youthful vitality.
| 1889O. W. Holmes Let. 27 May in J. Bartlett Familiar Quotations (1909) 638 To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old. 1909 M. J. Cawein New Poems 52 You are big and strong, my boy; and you are twelve years young. 1913M. P. Taylor Let. 5 Aug. in E. H. Haight Life & Lett. J. M. Taylor (1919) ix. 297 Me [sic] dear Father–Friend, Who is just Sixty-five Years Young. 1974 Country Life 14 Mar. 591/1 The British painter Tim Wyllie, over eighty years young..turned out to be as good a historian as a host. 1985 She July 140/1 I'm moving in with a 23-years-young masseur. 2000 Econ. Affairs 20 53/2 Our company will be 40 years young in March 2000. |
▸
young offender n. a young criminal,
esp. one under the legal age of majority (in early use not a fixed collocation).
| 1680 Don Tomazo sig. B, *Young offenders incurr the displeasure of the Law, ere they hardly understand what the Law forbids. 1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 213 The young Offender was spar'd, having obtain'd a Reprieve. 1822 M. Edgeworth Let. 4 Apr. (1971) 384 There are many young offenders in this prison—as young as from 16 to 12. 1921 B. G. Lewis Offender (ed. 2) ii. i. 268 The young vagrant or the young offender is usually a person who has not been trained. 1971 R. Cross Punishment, Prison & Public iv. 187 The courts should be empowered to pass fixed-term custodial sentences on young offenders between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one. 1993 Chatelaine May 116/2 The instrument that Canadian law wields to make kids come to their senses is the Young Offenders Act. 2002 Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent) (Electronic ed.) 4 Sept. A teenager who committed a catalogue of crime has been sentenced to six months at a young offenders' institution. |
▸
Young Pretender n. (with
the) Charles Stuart (1720–80), son of James Stuart, the Old Pretender (see
Old Pretender n. at
old adj. Special uses 4), and grandson of James II, who asserted his claim to the British throne against the house of Hanover,
esp. in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745; also in extended use.
| 1745 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 59 The *young Pretender..has got a march on General Cope. 1813 T. Dibdin Metrical Hist. Eng. 205 (note) The Young Pretender then proceeded as far as Manchester, where the preparations made to oppose him. 1873 Times 20 Sept. 5/3 The young Pretender of Chislehurst [sc. Napoleon III] raised that flag which others seemed to have abandoned. 1917 Proc. Musical Assoc. 1916–17 131 It [sc. National Anthem] became so universally popular after the failure of the Young Pretender in 1745. 1987 E. Saintsbury George MacDonald 1 Clan Ronald sent seven hundred men to join the Young Pretender's army. |
▪ II. young, v. Geol. (
jʌŋ)
[f. young a.] intr. Of a structure or formation: to present the apparently younger side (in a specified direction). Hence
ˈyounging vbl. n.| 1934 E. B. Bailey in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XC. 469, I have..been forced to coin the barbaric verb ‘to young’, in the sense ‘to present the younger aspect’. 1969 Bennison & Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles viii. 164 It seems probable that beds ‘young’ both southwards and northwards from the St. Austell Granite. 1972 Nature 28 Apr. 431/2 The eastward younging of plutons was taken to indicate an eastward migration of the downwelling plate margin. 1975 Tindall & Thornhill Blandford Rock & Mineral Guide i. 30 The direction of younging in a single layer of rock can sometimes be established if there is clear evidence of erosion. 1982 Collinson & Thompson Sedimentary Structures ii. 9/2 A sequence [of beds] could therefore be reported as ‘younging to the east’ for example. |