Dictionary entry

Puberty

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Pu″ber‐ty (?), n. [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.) The period when a plant first bears flowers.