Jongste

Jongste is a Dutch adjective and noun meaning "the youngest." It is the superlative form of the adjective jong (young) and is used to identify the youngest member of a group. As an attributive adjective, you can say de jongste broer (the youngest brother) or het jongste kind in a family. When used as a noun with a definite article, it refers to the youngest person: de jongste van de familie. It can also appear in predicative position: zij is de jongste.

Etymology and related forms: jongste comes from jong with the superlative suffix -ste. In English, the cognate is youngest, and in German the equivalent is jüngste. Dutch also uses jongere as the comparative form meaning "younger" (used for someone younger than another) and de jongere as a noun for a younger person, while oudste refers to the oldest.

Usage notes: jongste is commonly used in everyday speech to describe birth order, age groups, or relative standing within a set, such as families, teams, or classes. It contrasts with oudste (oldest) and met andere formulations such as de oudste van de klas. While jongste functions as the superlative, jongere serves as the comparative or as a noun for a younger person.

In summary, jongste denotes the youngest in a group, functioning as both an attributive descriptor and a noun, and it sits within a family of related forms that express age-related order in Dutch.