Adulting
/əˈdʌltɪŋ/noun
The practice of behaving like a responsible adult, especially in routine everyday tasks.
Did you know?Adulting is a modern English coinage built from adult, and adult itself comes from Latin adultus, meaning “grown up” — from the same root as adolescere, “to grow up,” which also gave us adolescent.
Etymological Timeline
Late Latin
Latin
adultus
“grown up; matured”
Latin
Latin
adolescere
“to grow up, ripen, mature”
14th Century
English
adult
“a grown person; one who has reached maturity”
20th Century
English
adulting
“the act of behaving as an adult; performing adult responsibilities”
Explore more surprising origins