The point at which a child becomes an adolescent is defined by the onset of puberty or the beginning of the teenage stage. Preadolescence may also be defined as the period from 9 to 14 years. Instead, prepubescent (and sometimes child) is a term for boys and girls who have not developed secondary sex characteristics, while preadolescent is generally defined as those ranging from age 10 to 13 years. Illustration of the Tanner scale for males.īeing prepubescent is not the same thing as being preadolescent. People within this age range are variously described as tweens, preadolescents, tweenies, preteens, pubescents, junior highschoolers, middle schoolers, or tweenagers.
Tween is an American neologism and marketing term for preteen, which is a blend of between and teen. Generally, the term is restricted to those close to reaching age 13, especially ages 9 to 12.
A preteen or preteenager is a person 12 and under. While known as preadolescent in psychology, the terms preteen, preteenager, or tween are common in everyday use. Other slang and terminology used to refer to the preadolescent stage include tween, as a combination of the words 'teen' and 'between.'
