GirlChat #604668
However, the word really meant what today we would call a "bachelor." No. English bachelor means "unmarried", while most Roman adulescentes were married. The literal meaning is "(still) growing up" (similar to German Heranwachsender or Russian подросток), and usually it refers to people (male and female) in their teens or twenties. Of course, occasionally it is used for older persons, but as far as I can see, all instances are jokes made by Cicero (something stuffy Victorian classicists like Lewis & Short invariably missed). None of this has any bearing on the modern use of "adolescent" etc. There is such a thing as "etymological fallacy". Surf safe;) NfiH |