different between adult vs grow

English

Etymology

From French adulte, Latin adultus (“grown up”), perfect passive participle of adolesc? (“I grow up”). Compare adolescent.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, Canada) IPA^(key): /?æd.?lt/, /?æd.?lt/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /??d?lt/, /?æd.?lt/
• Rhymes: -?lt

Noun

adult (plural adults)

1. A fully grown human or animal.
2. A person who has reached the legal age of majority.

Synonyms

• (fully grown human or animal): grown up; see also Thesaurus:adult

Derived terms

• adultly
• adultness

Translations

Adjective

adult (comparative more adult, superlative most adult)

1. Fully grown.

   an adult human, animal, or plant
2. Intended for or restricted to adults rather than children.

   adult clothes

   • 1973, Marshall Kaplan, Gans, and Kahn, Children and the urban environment (page 21)

     In May 1967 the WGBH Education Division submitted an initial proposal to HUD for a series of four adult television documentaries on conservation in an urban environment.

3. Containing material of an explicit sexual nature; of, or pertaining to, pornography.

   an adult movie

   This program contains adult content. Parental discretion is advised.

4. Vulgar or profane.

Synonyms

• (fully grown): big, fully grown, grown up; see also Thesaurus:full-grown
• (intended for adults): grown up; see also Thesaurus:adultlike or Thesaurus:for adults
• (containing explicit sexual material): pornographic, X-rated, XXX, XXXX; see also Thesaurus:pornographic
• (vulgar): blue, indecent, obscene, salacious; see also Thesaurus:obscene

Related terms

• adolescent
• adulthood

Translations

Verb

adult (third-person singular simple present adults, present participle adulting, simple past and past participle adulted)

1. (intransitive, informal) To behave like an adult.
3. (nonstandard, rare) To (cause to) be or become an adult.
   • 1974, Occasional Papers (Syracuse University), issues 42-46, page 5:

     Womanhood was achieved at twenty-one, when the female was "adulted"; manhood was fully achieved at twenty-five, […]

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:adult.

Further reading

• adult in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• adult in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• talud

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin adultus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /??dult/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /??dul/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /a?dult/

Adjective

adult (feminine adulta, masculine plural adults, feminine plural adultes)

1. adult (fully grown)

Derived terms

• adultesa

Noun

adult m (plural adults, feminine adulta)

1. adult (fully grown person)

Further reading

• “adult” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

adult (not comparable)

1. (medicine) adult

Declension

See also

• erwachsen
• Erwachsener, Erwachsene

Romanian

Etymology

From French adulte, Latin adultus. See above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?dult/

Adjective

adult m or n (feminine singular adult?, masculine plural adul?i, feminine and neuter plural adulte)

1. adult

Declension

Noun

adult m (plural adul?i, feminine equivalent adult?)

1. adult

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English growen, from Old English gr?wan (“to grow, increase, flourish, germinate”), from Proto-Germanic *gr?an? (“to grow, grow green”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?reh?- (“to grow, become green”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /????/, [??????]
• (US) IPA^(key): /??o?/, [???o??]
• Rhymes: -??

Verb

grow (third-person singular simple present grows, present participle growing, simple past grew or (dialectal) growed, past participle grown or (dialectal) growed)

1. (ergative) To become larger, to increase in magnitude.

2. (ergative, of plants) To undergo growth; to be present (somewhere)

3. (intransitive) To appear or sprout.

4. (intransitive) To develop, to mature.

5. (transitive) To cause or allow something to become bigger, especially to cultivate plants.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:grow.

6. (copulative) To assume a condition or quality over time.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:grow.

7. (intransitive, obsolete) To become attached or fixed; to adhere.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:grow.

Antonyms

• shrink

Derived terms

Translations

References

• grow at OneLook Dictionary Search

Middle English

Verb

grow

1. Alternative form of growen