Young
/jʌŋ/noun
Having lived or existed for only a short time; not old.
Did you know?English young is part of a deep Indo-European family tied to youth, with cousins in words like Latin *iuvenis* and Sanskrit *yuvan-*—the same ancient idea behind “juvenile” and “junior.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*yuw-
“to be young, youthful”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*jungaz
“young, youthful”
Old English
OE
geong
“young, youthful, new”
Middle English
ME
yong
“young”
Modern English
English
young
“having lived or existed for only a short time”
Explore more surprising origins