néoténie
French, noun\ne.o.te.ni\
néoténie is spelled N-É-O-T-É-N-I-E (8 letters) and appears about once in every 68 million words in written French, the 258,710th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Néoténie is a French feminine noun meaning “neoteny (retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Conservation des caractéristiques juvéniles chez un adulte”.
What does néoténie mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineneoteny (retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult)
- 2
feminineneoteny (sexual maturity of an organism still in its larval stage)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Conservation des caractéristiques juvéniles chez un adulte. 2. À l’inverse, atteinte de la maturité sexuelle par un organisme encore au stade larvaire.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of néoténie
- néoténies plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce néoténie?
- \ne.o.te.ni\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to néoténie
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is néoténie in French?
néoténie appears about once in every 68 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).