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Adult vs Neoteny - What's the difference?

adult | neoteny |

As nouns the difference between adult and neoteny

is that adult is a fully grown human or animal while neoteny is (biology) the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.

As a adjective adult

is fully grown.

As a verb adult

is to (cause to) be or become an.

adult

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A fully grown human or animal.

    • Derived terms

    * (l) * (l)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Fully grown.
    • an adult human, animal, or plant
  • Intended for or restricted to adults rather than children.
    • adult clothes
  • Containing material of an explicit sexual nature
    • adult content
    an adult movie

    Synonyms

    * (fully grown) big, fully grown, grown up * (unsuitable for children) blue, dirty, lewd, obscene

    Related terms

    * adolescent * adulthood

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To (cause to) be or become an .
  • * 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,
  • * 2013 , Kelly Williams Brown, Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps
  • * 2013 , Ewa Rewers, The Contradictions of Urban Art (ISBN 364390374X), page 84:
    • The process of adulting children,
  • * (seemoreCites)

    • External links

    * * ----

    neoteny

    English

    (wikipedia neoteny)

    Noun

    (-)
  • (biology) The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.
    • Most amphibians are aquatic only while young, but some amphibians with neoteny remain aquatic even as adults.
  • (biology) The sexual maturity of an organism still in its larval stage.

    • Synonyms

    * pedomorphism

    Derived terms

    * neotenic * neotenous * neotenously * neotenist