Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

teen

1 American  
[teen] / tin /

adjective

  1. teenage.

noun

  1. a teenager.

teen 2 American  
[teen] / tin /

noun

  1. Archaic. suffering; grief.

  2. Obsolete. injury; harm.

-teen 3 American  

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

-teen 1 British  

combining form

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
teen 2 British  
/ tiːn /

adjective

  1. informal another word for teenage

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
teen 3 British  
/ tiːn /

noun

  1. obsolete affliction or woe

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does -teen mean? The suffix -teen means “ten.” It is used to form cardinal numbers from 13 to 19.The form -teen comes from Old English -tēne, meaning “ten.” The Latin cognate of -tēne is -decim, from decem, also meaning “ten.” Find out how dozen is related to the combining form -decim at our entry for the word.

Other Word Forms

  • -teenth combining form

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Scripts were packed with bad-boy rebels, spoiled teen queens and uncool misfits of all kinds.

From Salon

"Adolescence and Hamnet are amazing pieces of art, amazing performances but intense and emotionally heavy. I cannot watch stuff about losing a child or teen issues," she said.

From BBC

The judge ordered her to be housed in a group home for high-risk male teens and young adults.

From The Wall Street Journal

The report also highlights future risk among children and teens.

From Science Daily

The two girls’ ambitions diverge in their teens.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.