B114 words · Intermediate

Life Stages vocabulary — B1

Life Stages vocabulary for milestones families talk about, including childhood, retire and christening, covering the turns a life takes from birth onward.

14 questions

Words in this set

childhood
/ˈtʃaɪldˌhʊd/
The period of a person's life when they are young, before becoming an adult.
Example: She had a happy childhood in the countryside.
adulthood
/əˈdʌltˌhʊd/
The time of life when a person is fully grown and legally independent.
Example: Many people move out of their parents' home in early adulthood.
elderly
/ˈɛldərli/
A polite way of describing someone who is quite old.
Example: An elderly man asked me to help with his bags.
funeral
/ˈfjunərəl/
A ceremony held after someone dies, when family and friends say goodbye.
Example: Hundreds of people attended my grandfather's funeral last week.
settle down
To start a calm, permanent life in one place, often with a partner.
Example: After years of travelling, they settled down in a quiet village.
retire
/rɪˈtaɪr/
To stop working, usually because you have reached a certain age.
Example: My father plans to retire next year.
puberty
/ˈpjubərti/
The period when a child's body changes and develops into an adult's body.
Example: His voice deepened during puberty.
gap year
A year that a young person spends travelling or working before starting university.
Example: She travelled through Asia during her gap year.
maturity
/məˈtʃʊrəti/
The state of being fully grown, or of thinking and behaving in a sensible, adult way.
Example: He handled the crisis with surprising maturity.
widower
/ˈwɪdoʊər/
A man whose wife has died and who has not married again.
Example: He became a widower shortly after his fiftieth birthday.
christening
/ˈkrɪsənɪŋ/
A ceremony at which a baby is given a name in church.
Example: Half the village turned up to the christening on Sunday.
pensioner
/ˈpɛnʃənər/
Someone who has retired and lives on a pension.
Example: Every pensioner in the block gets the heating allowance.
stepchild
/ˈstɛpˌtʃaɪld/
The child of your husband or wife from an earlier relationship.
Example: His stepchild calls him by his first name and always has.
care home
A place where old people live and are looked after.
Example: She moved into a care home the winter after her fall.