teen

¹

[ teen ]

adjective

1. teenage.

noun

1. a teenager.

teen

²

[ teen ]

noun

1. Archaic. suffering; grief.
2. Obsolete. injury; harm.

-teen

³

1. a suffix used to form cardinal numerals from 13 to 19.

-teen

¹

combining form

1. ten: added to modified forms of the numbers 3 to 9 to form the numbers 13 to 19

teen

²

/ tiːn /

adjective

1. informal.
   another word for teenage

teen

³

/ tiːn /

noun

1. obsolete.
   affliction or woe

Derived Forms

• -teenth, combining_form:in_adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of teen¹

First recorded in 1940–45; by shortening

Origin of teen²

before 1000; Middle English tene, Old English tēona; cognate with Old Frisian tiona, Old Saxon tiono, Old Norse tjōn

Origin of teen³

Middle English, Old English -tēne, combining form of ten; cognate with Dutch -tien, German -zehn

Word History and Origins

Origin of teen¹

Old English -tēne, -tӯne

Origin of teen²

Old English tēona; related to Old Saxon tiono, Old Frisian tiona injury

Example Sentences

Teal debuted on Season 7 of the teen drama in 2010, playing the closeted actor in a seven-episode arc that ended with him coming out to as gay.

From Los Angeles Times

Three years after his first stint on the WB, he landed the lead role of Lucas Scott in the soapy teen drama “One Tree Hill.”

From Los Angeles Times

A teen, Karin, is left by her ne’er-do-well widowed father in the care of her grandfather at a temple.

From Los Angeles Times

It has already led to a range of companies introducing significant changes to how they work - with Instagram creating new teen accounts in September, and Roblox banning young children from messaging others in November.

From BBC

While most cases are mild, commonly characterized by conjunctivitis and respiratory symptoms, this previously healthy teen was hospitalized from the virus in critical condition.

From Salon

Related Words

• juvenile
• youngster