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I wanted to know if there is a noun stating the following: "state of being 10, 27, etc years old." For example, consider the sentences "He is 10 years old and because of that, he is happy." I want to say that "X makes him happy" and by X I mean the state of being 10 years old. Another example is: "X is one of the best periods of a human's life" or "After X becomes Y," which by Y I mean "being 11 years old." I hope I were clear enough about my question.

Actually, I am looking for a word like "5 years old-ness." As a matter of fact, I want to make a literary sentence. I want to say: "I was standing near my 'being 10' in my dream," and I don't want to mention that "being 10" is an object or a human. I want it to be an abstract noun. For example, we have the word "forties" which shows the person is aged between 40 and 49 and we have phrases such as early/mid/late forties. I want to know if there is such a word or phrase for "being 10 years old." Cheers

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    I don't thing there is a word for every stage of life of a one-year measure. There are words for groups of years representing a corresponding stage of unique physical/mental qualities. For example, childhood and adolescence. There seems to be no sound reason for the language to develop such stage-for-every-year words because at a one-year level there's no real stage for which developing a word becomes necessary.
    – user40213
    Aug 29, 2016 at 1:05
  • As far as I know there aren't really any single words that describe a specific age like that, maybe you could use "I was standing near my 10 year old self in my dream" or perhaps if you don't mind a little more ambiguity, "I was standing near my preadolescent self in my dream".
    – Useless Code
    Aug 29, 2016 at 17:31

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You can say "Being 10", and from the context it would be understood as "being 10 years old"

Being 10 makes him happy.

Being 57 is one of the best times in a person's life.

After being 5 comes being 6.

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  • Actually, I am looking for a word like "5 years old-ness." As a matter of fact, I want to make a literary sentence. I want to say: "I was standing near my 'being 10' in my dream," and I don't want to mention that "being 10" is an object or a human. I want it to be an abstract noun.
    – Diamond
    Aug 29, 2016 at 10:33
  • I don't think English has an abstract noun for "the state of being X years old". I suppose you could say "his X-years-old-ness" if you really wanted.
    – stangdon
    Aug 29, 2016 at 12:07
  • Can we really use "6-years-old-ness?" does it make sense really?
    – Diamond
    Aug 29, 2016 at 12:33
  • It's certainly understandable. The -ness suffix makes an adjective into a noun that means something like "the state or condition of being adjective." Tidy - tidiness; hard - hardness; loathsome - loathsomeness; etc. This case is a little more complicated, because "six years old" is not a simple adjective, but if you stick "-ness" on the end, people will be able to understand what you mean.
    – stangdon
    Aug 29, 2016 at 14:29
  • I suggest "I dreamt I was standing next to my 10-year old self....."
    – James K
    Aug 29, 2016 at 19:00
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There isn't a word which completely embodies 'being 10'. Especially since people would have different definitions of the word depending on what they thought 10-year-old-ness was. Some cultures may think of innocence or a time of play and freedom. Others may think about learning responsibility.

So it is difficult to have one word to embody a state of a 10 year old when a culture may value a specific quality over the rest.

Instead, I'd suggest you use a word which defines exactly what about the 10 year old is most important.

For example, is it his innocence and naïveté which make him oblivious to his surrounding troubles?

Is it his imaginative mind which allows him to think up his own games and remain happy on his own?

What exactly is it about him as 10 year old that makes him happy? These qualities are a better thing to focus on.

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