nonage

American  

[non-ij, noh-nij] / ˈnɒn ɪdʒ, ˈnoʊ nɪdʒ /

noun

1. the period of legal minority, or of an age below 21.

2. any period of immaturity.

---

nonage British  

/ ˈnəʊnɪdʒ /

noun

1. law the state of being under any of various ages at which a person may legally enter into certain transactions, such as the making of binding contracts, marrying, etc

2. any period of immaturity

---

Etymology

Origin of nonage

1350–1400; late Middle English < Middle French ( non-, age ); replacing Middle English nownage < Anglo-French nounage; Middle French as above

Example Sentences

The founding father of black humor in a new, splendidly gutty translation of his classic about the bitter, unbreakable orphan whose childhood and nonage were a lugubrious epic of squalor, filth, misery and hatred.

From Time Magazine Archive

His "hoy," "bunk" and "bull" stories, his hoaxes, false fronts and fabrications were easily detected and. cast out when he was in his professional nonage.

From Time Magazine Archive

So far, we are in Sussex pure and simple; mangolds all around, cattle sheds in front, a Sussex farmer for a companion, the sky of Sussex over all, and the twentieth century in her nonage.

From Highways and Byways in Sussex by Griggs, Frederick Landseer Maur

The youth in his nonage, and the gray-haired and very aged man were there.

From The Iron Furnace Slavery and Secession by Aughey, John H.

The Prince of Wales's travels in his nonage have made Telemachus a tortoise, and the young Anacharsis a stay-at-home.

From The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 1 Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave among the moors... by Sala, George Augustus