different between young vs swanling

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 swan +? -ling, formed by analogy with duckling, gosling, etc. Compare German Schwänlein.

Noun

swanling (plural swanlings)

1. A young or baby swan; a cygnet.
   • 2004, Pauline Somers, Dreams Within Dreams:

     Suddenly I feel myself become small as a swanling, tucked into the swan's feathers.

   • 2007, Hubert Schuurman, People of the Swan:

     Slim ran over to the pond and unleashed the excited swanlings. They followed Moose and Slim to a quiet backwash of the river and glided gracefully into the water. Moose sat down on a little hillock and listened to Slim talking to the swanlings.

   • 2011, Jack Zipes, The Enchanted Screen:

     The narrative concerns a female duck who hatches four dark ducklings, and when the fifth turns out to be a white “swanling,” the father duck more or less accuses his wife of adultery.

   • 2011, Gail Steinberg, Beth Hall, Inside Transracial Adoption:

     Bruno Bettelheim What this is really about is how you and your own dear swanling can rest securely in the feeling of belonging together when you experience daily life differently because others treat you differently.

   • 2015, Betina Lindsey, Swan Bride: The Swan Maiden Trilogy - Book One:

     So close, swanling, do not hesitate. Her eyes went to the sun hanging between night and day and then to Wulfsun. I cannot leave him to such a fate. Without me, he is a dead man.

Usage notes

Most dictionaries do not list this word (as of 2013); the usual term is cygnet.

Synonyms

• cygnet

Related terms

• swan
• gosling
• gooseling
• duckling

Translations