Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Adult in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels adult as adjective. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913adjective
Adult

[L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordadult
Part of speechadjective
Historical etymology[L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old.]
Selected historical definitionHaving arrived at maturity, or to full size and strength; matured; as, an adult person or plant; an adult ape; an adult age.
Signed record IDwebster1913-adult-adjective-dd5ad6d23f2d
Source locatorCIDE.A, paragraph 3340; Gutenberg eBook 660
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 660Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "adult" is labeled adjective. Its etymology is recorded as: "[L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old.]" The selected historical definition says: "Having arrived at maturity, or to full size and strength; matured; as, an adult person or plant; an adult ape; an adult age."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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