neoteny.
The retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.
Meaning & usage
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.
The sexual maturity of an organism still in its larval stage.
Where this word comes from
From German Neotenie, coined in 1884 by anatomist Julius Kollmann from Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “young”) + τείνειν (teínein, “to extend, spread or tense”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.