Seniorhood Defined

 ”Once I knew only darkness and stillness…my life was without past or future…but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.”  Helen Keller

The human lifecycle is often depicted as having four succinct stages:  infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.  The first three of these stages reference a person’s physically maturing years.  With adulthood beginning somewhere between the ages of 18 and 21,  it  seems  somewhat unfitting that the remaining bulk of a person’s life expectency be lumped into a single category.  

Somewhere around the age of fifty, decades into adulthood, certain changes within a person begin to occur.   Physical and emotional  alterations begin to take place, and almost mystically a somewhat  modified version of our adult selves emerge.  This transition commences a new phase of life, seniorhood, presenting with it new opportunities along with new challenges.    

Seniorhood, in one of its several meanings, describes that later time in a person’s life and deserves recognition in the lexica of today as a viable word choice properly defined and made available within the English vocabulary.  Seniorhood should also be defined, translated, and available for use amongst non-English dictionaries as well.   We are, after all, aging internationally.

Except when identifying that time when a young student enjoys the highest ranking in their high school or college education, people rarely tout their seniorhood status.   It is as though by not recognizing and speaking of its existence these inevitable changes will not occur.  Did Peter Pan not teach us anything? 

Seniorhood is a good word.  Until recognized by major dictionaries, here is an attempt at definining seniorhood.  Celebrate, corroborate, and circulate its use.   

Seniorhood Definition

sen·ior·hood   (snyr-hd)

Noun: 

1. A community whose majority of residents have reached senior status.  One of the new communities being developed will be an amenity-rich seniorhood designed for the active adult.
2. A group of seniors residing near one another.   The entire seniorhood got together for their annual spring picnic.
3. The period of time or stage in life unique to the aging process.  Perhaps the longest of life’s stages, seniorhood now holds more opportunity for an active lifestyle than ever before. 
4. The period of time in high school or college during the year preceding graduation.  Seniorhood is a great time to celebrate previous academic achievements.

Adj:

1. Of or relating to seniorhood status.   Having achieved seniorhood status, she decided to apply for admission to graduate school. 

Synonyms:  mature adult, old age, later life, senior, late adulthood

Antonym:  infant, childhood, adolescent, baby, babyhood, immature