Word.ws English Dictionary

neoteny

/niˈɒtəni/US/niˈɑːtəni/

neoteny noun: the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.

Noun

neoteny (countable and uncountable, plural neotenies)

  1. The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.
    • Most amphibians are aquatic only while young, but some amphibians with neoteny remain aquatic even as adults.
    • Richard Wrangham has noted that the domestication of animals usually tames them by slowing down components of the developmental timetable to retain juvenile traits into adulthood, a process called pedomorphy or neoteny.2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 744
  2. The sexual maturity of an organism still in its larval stage.

neoteny meaning in Tamil and Persian

neoteny in Tamil

இளமை மாறாநிலை, நீள்யௌவனநிலை, லார்வா இனப்பெருக்கம்

neoteny in Persian

retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult
نئوتنی

Synonyms of neoteny

Forms of neoteny

pluralneotenies

Origin of neoteny

From German Neotenie, coined in 1884 by anatomist Julius Kollmann from Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “young”) + τείνειν (teínein, “to extend, spread or tense”).

Words formed from neoteny

Questions about neoteny

What does neoteny mean?
Neoteny means the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.
What is neoteny in Tamil?
Neoteny in Tamil is இளமை மாறாநிலை, நீள்யௌவனநிலை, லார்வா இனப்பெருக்கம். See Neoteny meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is neoteny?
Neoteny is a noun.
How do you pronounce neoteny?
Neoteny is pronounced /niˈɒtəni/ (UK).
What is the plural of neoteny?
The plural of neoteny is neotenies.

Words near neoteny in the dictionary

  1. neotenized
  2. neotenizes
  3. neotenizing
  4. neotenous
  5. neotenously
  6. neoteny
  7. neoteric
  8. neoterical
  9. neoterically
  10. neoterick
  11. neoterics

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: neoteny (page history and authors); neoteny (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-neoteny.wav.

Cite this entry: “neoteny.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/neoteny. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.