puberty

From Middle English puberte, from Old French puberté, from Latin pūbertās (“the age of maturity, manhood”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpjuː.bə.ti/

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puberty (countable and uncountable, plural puberties)

1. A developmental phase brought about by the action of hormones as part of the maturing process. For humans, there are three in total.
   • 2014, Lewis Wolpert, Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?, →ISBN:

     Girls undergoing puberty show an increase in the total output of cortisol, which is related to stress, while boys show little increase.

   1. (more common) The process of sexual development that produces secondary sex characteristics and makes a person capable of reproducing sexually.
2. The age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction.
   • 2009, The Development of Children Study Guide, →ISBN, page 241:

     As shown in Figure 14.4 of the textbook, children reach puberty at different ages in different countries; within those nations, children living in cities tend to reach puberty earlier than those living in rural areas.

3. The period when a plant begins to flower.(The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

• (process of adolescence): thelarche, pubarche, growth spurt, menarche, gonadarche, adrenarche

• delayed puberty
• precocious puberty
• puberty blocker
• puberty inhibitor
• second puberty

• “puberty”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “puberty”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Puberty”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes VII (O–P), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 1557, column 3.