girlhood

/'gə:lhud/

Học thuật

Thân thiện

A young girl spends her girlhood reading books in a sunny garden.

Definition

Noun:
- The state or period of being a girl: The time in a female's life from childhood to adolescence, specifically the developmental stage before womanhood.
- The collective experience or condition of being a girl: The qualities, activities, or social phase associated with being a young female.

Usage

As a subject: "Girlhood" is the focus of the sentence.
As an object: Something is related to or defines "girlhood".
With possessive forms: Often used to indicate whose girlhood is being discussed (e.g., , ).
Common collocations: Often paired with words like , , , and adjectives like , , .

Examples

As a subject:
- Her girlhood was spent in a small coastal town.
- Girlhood is often a time of rapid physical and emotional change.
As an object:
- She often reminisced about her girlhood.
- The novel explores the transition from girlhood to adulthood.
With prepositions:
- She had known him since girlhood.
- Throughout her girlhood, she dreamed of becoming a pilot.

Advanced Usage

"In one's girlhood": During the time when one was a girl.
- In her girlhood, such opportunities were rare for women.
Literary/Formal Context: The term is more common in formal, literary, or sociological writing than in casual conversation, where "when I/you/she was a girl" is often used.
- The poet's work reflects a nostalgic longing for a lost girlhood.

Variants and Related Words

Girl (n): A female child or young woman.
Childhood (n): The state or period of being a child. (This is the broader, gender-neutral term.)
Boyhood (n): The childhood of a boy. (The direct male counterpart.)
Adolescence (n): The transitional period between childhood and adulthood, which can overlap with later girlhood.
Maidenhood (n): An older, more formal, or literary term for the state of being a young, unmarried woman, often synonymous with later girlhood or early womanhood.

Synonyms

Youth (specifically female youth): The period between childhood and adult age.
Early years (of a female): The initial stage of life.
Maidenhood: (See note in Variants and Related Words).

Antonyms

Related Phrases and Idioms

"Days of one's girlhood": A poetic way to refer to the period of being a girl.
- She often thought back to the carefree days of her girlhood.
"From girlhood on/upwards": Starting from the time of being a girl and continuing.
- From girlhood upwards, she displayed a remarkable talent for music.

A young girl spends her girlhood reading books in a sunny garden.

Noun

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