Youngnesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state or quality of being youthful or immature, often associated with the stage of life before adulthood
2. A condition characterized by inexperience or youth, typically linking to the vigor and vitality of the early years
3. The attribute of possessing youthful traits or characteristics, often reflecting freshness and potential for growth

Etymology: "Youngnesses" is simply the plural of "youngness," so the story is mostly about its parts. The first is "young," inherited from Old English "geong" and traceable back to Proto-Germanic roots. The second is the suffix "-ness," which English uses to turn an adjective into a noun for a quality. Old English "-nes" carried this same job, and by Middle English it had become "-nesse" before settling into the modern form. Put together, "youngness" names the state or quality of being young, and the plural "youngnesses" treats those qualities as separate instances, a usage that is rare and mostly literary. The plural form is common for many "-ness" nouns, since writers often want to speak of several particular traits at once.

Synonyms: youth, juvenility

Antonyms: oldness, maturity