Adult Meaning and Definition from WordNet (r) 2.0

adult adj : (of animals) fully developed; "an adult animal"; "a grown woman" [syn: big, full-grown, fully grown, grown, grownup] n
1. a fully developed person from maturity onward [syn: grownup] [ant: juvenile]
2. any mature animal

Adult Meaning and Definition from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Adult \A*dult"\, a. [L. adultus, p. p. of adolescere, akin to alere to nourish: cf. F. adulte. See Adolescent, Old.] Having arrived at maturity, or to full size and strength; matured; as, an adult person or plant; an adult ape; an adult age.

Adult Meaning and Definition from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Adult \A*dult"\, n. A person, animal, or plant grown to full size and strength; one who has reached maturity. Note: In the common law, the term is applied to a person who has attained full age or legal majority; in the civil law, to males after the age of fourteen, and to females after twelve.

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An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age. In human context, the term has other subordinate meanings associated with social and legal concepts; for example, a legal adult is a legal concept for a person who has attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible (contrast with "minor"). Adulthood can be defined in terms of physiology, psychological adult development, law, personal character, or social status.

Historically and cross-culturally, adulthood has been determined primarily by the start of puberty (the appearance of secondary sex characteristics such as menstruation in women, ejaculation in men, and pubic hair in both sexes). In the past a person usually moved from the status of child directly to the status of adult, often with this shift being marked by some type of coming-of-age test or ceremony.

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* He who hasn't hacked assemply language as a youth has no heart. He who does as an adult has no brain. - John Moore

* I have always thought it would be a blessing if each person could be blind and deaf for a few days during his early adult life. Darkness would make him appreciate sight silence would teach him the joys of sound. - Hellen Keller

* A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience. - John Updike


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