puberty, pubescence
(noun) the time of life when sex glands become functional
Source: WordNet® 3.1
puberty (countable and uncountable, plural puberties)
A developmental phase brought about by the action of hormones as part of the maturing process. For humans, there are three in total.
(more common) The process of sexual development that produces secondary sex characteristics and makes a person capable of reproducing sexually.
The age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction.
The period when a plant begins to flower.
• (process of adolescence): thelarche, pubarche, growth spurt, menarche, gonadarche, adrenarche
Source: Wiktionary
Pu"ber*ty, n. Etym: [L. pubertas, fr. puber, pubes, adult: cf. F. puberté.]
1. The earliest age at which persons are capable of begetting or bearing children, usually considered, in temperate climates, to be about fourteen years in males and twelve in females.
2. (Bot.)
Definition: The period when a plant first bears flowers.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
21 April 2025
(noun) a reference work (often in several volumes) containing articles on various topics (often arranged in alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of human knowledge or with some particular specialty
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.