different between young vs litter

English

Etymology

From Middle English yong, yonge, from Old English ?eong, from Proto-West Germanic *jung, from Proto-Germanic *jungaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h?yuh?n??ós, from *h?yuh?en- (“young”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: y?ng, IPA^(key): /j??/
• Rhymes: -??

Adjective

young (comparative younger, superlative youngest)

1. In the early part of growth or life; born not long ago.

2. At an early stage of existence or development; having recently come into existence.
   • 1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year, London: E. Nutt et al., p. 23,^[1]

     […] while the Fears of the People were young, they were encreas’d strangely by several odd Accidents […]

3. (Not) advanced in age; (far towards or) at a specified stage of existence or age.
   • 1906, Robertson Nicoll, Tis Forty Years Since, quoted in T. P.'s Weekly, volume 8, page 462:

     And thou, our Mother, twice two centuries young,

     Bend with bright shafts of truth thy bow fresh-strung.

4. Junior (of two related people with the same name).
   • 1841, The Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art:

     The young Mr. Chester must be in the wrong, and the old Mr. Chester must be in the right.

5. (of a decade of life) Early.
   • 1922, E. Barrington, “The Mystery of Stella” in “The Ladies!” A Shining Constellation of Wit and Beauty, Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, pp. 40-41,^[2]

     […] Miss Hessy is as pretty a girl as eye can see, in her young twenties and a bit of a fortune to boot.

   • 1965, Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate, London: Macmillan, Part One, Chapter 1,

     Ephraim would be in his young thirties.

   • 2008, Alice Fisher, “Grown-up chic is back as high street goes upmarket,” The Guardian, 20 January, 2008,^[3]

     […] while this may appeal to older, better-off shoppers, vast numbers, especially those in their teens and young twenties, still want fast, cheap fashion.

6. Youthful; having the look or qualities of a young person.

7. Of or belonging to the early part of life.

8. (obsolete) Having little experience; inexperienced; unpracticed; ignorant; weak.
   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act I, Scene 1,^[4]

     Come, come, elder brother, you are too young in this.

Synonyms

• (born not long ago): youthful, junior; see also Thesaurus:young
• (having qualities of a young person): youthful, juvenile
• (of or belonging to the early part of life): juvenile
• (inexperienced): underdeveloped, undeveloped, immature

Antonyms

• (born not long ago): old, aged, grown up, senior, youthless, elderly
• (having qualities of a young person): aged, old, youthless, mature, elderly
• (of or belonging to the early part of life): senior, mature, elderly
• (inexperienced): mature, experienced, veteran

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

young (usually uncountable, plural young)

1. People who are young; young people, collectively; youth.

   The young of today are well-educated.

(Should we delete⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

1. Young or immature offspring (especially of an animal).

2. (rare, possibly nonstandard) An individual offspring; a single recently born or hatched organism.
   • 2010, Mammal Anatomy: An Illustrated Guide, page 21:

     There is a logic in this behavior: a mother will not come into breeding condition again unless her young is ready to be weaned or has died, so killing a baby may hasten […]

Translations

Related terms

• youth

Verb

young (third-person singular simple present youngs, present participle younging, simple past and past participle younged)

1. (informal or demography) To become or seem to become younger.
2. (informal or demography) To cause to appear younger.
3. (geology) To exhibit younging.

Middle English

Adjective

young

1. Alternative form of yong

English

Etymology

From French litière, from lit (“bed”), from Latin lectus; confer Ancient Greek ??????? (léktron). Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, etc.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l?t?(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?l?t?/, [?l???]
• Rhymes: -?t?(r)
• Homophone: lidder (US)

Noun

litter (countable and uncountable, plural litters)

1. (countable) A platform mounted on two shafts, or a more elaborate construction, designed to be carried by two (or more) people to transport one (in luxury models sometimes more) third person(s) or (occasionally in the elaborate version) a cargo, such as a religious idol.
2. (collective, countable) The offspring of a mammal born in one birth.
3. (uncountable) Material used as bedding for animals.

4. (uncountable) Collectively, items discarded on the ground.
   • 1730, Jonathan Swift, s:The Lady's Dressing Room

     Strephon [...] / Stole in, and took a strict survey / Of all the litter as it lay.
5. (uncountable) Absorbent material used in an animal's litter tray

6. (uncountable) Layer of fallen leaves and similar organic matter in a forest floor.
7. A covering of straw for plants.

Synonyms

• (platform designed to carry a person or a load): palanquin, sedan chair, stretcher, cacolet
• (items discarded on the ground): waste, rubbish, garbage (US), trash (US), junk

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

litter (third-person singular simple present litters, present participle littering, simple past and past participle littered)

1. (intransitive) To drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it (as discarding in public areas rather than trash receptacles).

2. (transitive) To scatter carelessly about.
3. (transitive) To strew (a place) with scattered articles.
4. (transitive) To give birth to, used of animals.
5. (intransitive) To produce a litter of young.
6. (transitive) To supply (cattle etc.) with litter; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall.
   • 1693, John Hacket, Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams

     Tell them how they litter their jades.

   • For his ease, well litter'd was the floor.

7. (intransitive) To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter.
   • 1634, William Habington, Castara

     The inn where he and his horse litter'd.

Derived terms

• litterer

Translations

Anagrams

• retilt, tilter, titler

Norman

Etymology

From Old French luitier, loitier, luiter (compare French lutter), from Vulgar Latin luct?re, from Latin luctor, luct?r? (“struggle, wrestle, fight”).

Verb

litter

1. (Jersey) to wrestle

Derived terms

• litteux (“wrestler”)