English

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Etymology

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young +‎ folk

Noun

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youngfolk pl (plural only)

  1. Children.
    • 1962, Rajasthan (India), Rajasthan District Gazetteers - Volume 1, page 80:
      Ropes are tied to the strong branches of a tree and youngfolk enjoy themselves swinging for hours together.
    • 196?, India. Superintendent of Census Operations, West Bengal & Sikkim, Bisweswar Ray, District Census Handbook, West Bengal: Darjeeling, page 107:
      In the urban areas 2(>.99 per cent of the youngfolk in the age-group 0-14 are full time students.
    • 2005, John R. Downes, Orphans Song, →ISBN:
      Kenny's customer-friendly manner and originality in preparing confectionaries in The Mercantile soda fountain attracted more sales, locals came and lingered, youngfolk occupied the counter stools while parents shopped.
  2. Teenagers and young adults.
    • 1939, Minendra Nath Basu, The Bunas of Bengal, page 61:
      Youngfolk are sometimes seen to have placed a ' puthi-mala ' (garland of beads) of blue, white or amber colour round their necks.
    • 1965, Calcutta Municipal Gazette - Volume 83, page 564:
      At a symposium on Sport and Recreation held in Manchester recently, Mr. R. C. Macmillan, a specialist in park administration said that he sometime noticed idle youngfolk gathered in groups, both boys and girls, at the park gate where their conversation was neither good nor healthy for teenagers.
    • 1968, S. P. Sinha, The Problem of Land Alienation of the Tribals in and Around Ranchi, 1955-65, page 29:
      Even when the older people were reluctant, the youngfolk persuaded them to dispose of the lands keeping only that much as was needed for the family, thinking, of course wrongly, that it would take a long time to secure cash money by cultivation and selling their products.
    • 1994, Dorothy Grant Hennings, Communication in action: teaching the language arts, page 130:
      Using selection headings from the book (menfolk, womenfolk, children, and youngfolk), students record related data on a web as they read.

Synonyms

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