# young

> English word · Adjective · IPA /jʌŋ/ · frequency rank #364

## Definitions
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.
3. advanced in age; (far towards or) at a specified stage of existence or age.
4. Junior (of two related people with the same name).
5. Early. (of a decade of life)
6. Youthful; having the look or qualities of a young person.
7. Of or belonging to the early part of life.
8. Having little experience; inexperienced; unpracticed; ignorant; weak.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English yong, yonge, from Old English ġeong, from Proto-West Germanic *jung, from Proto-Germanic *jungaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuHn̥ḱós, from *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”).
Cognates
Cognate with Alemannic German jung, jungu, junhs, jungà, jòng (“young”), Bavarian junk (“young”), Central Franconian, Luxembourgish jonk (“young”), Cimbrian djung, jung, junk (“young”), Dutch jong (“young”), German, German Low German, Mòcheno and Vilamovian jung (“young”), Limburgish jong, jonk (“young”), Yiddish יונג (yung, “young”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish ung (“young”), Faroese, Icelandic ungur (“young”), Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍃 (juggs, “young”).

## Easily confused with
- **Yun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/young-vs-yun)
- **your** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/young-vs-your)
- **yous** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/young-vs-yous)
- **Yuna** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/young-vs-yuna)
- **yours** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/young-vs-yours)
- **youth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/young-vs-youth)
- **Youngs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/young-vs-youngs)
- **younger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/young-vs-younger)
- **you** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-young)
- **yon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yon-vs-young)
- **yang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yang-vs-young)
- **yong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yong-vs-young)
- **ying** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ying-vs-young)
- **Yoon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yoon-vs-young)
- **you'd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-d-vs-young)
- **Yeung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yeung-vs-young)
- **you's** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-s-vs-young)
- **Yonge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yonge-vs-young)

## Common misspellings (7)
`oyung`, `yonug`, `yougn`, `youngg`, `younng`, `yuong`, `yyoung`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/young