Precocious describes a child who is ahead of their age — reading at three, playing concertos at seven, or talking to adults the way another adult would. It is about arriving early, so it is used almost only of children and of the things children do; a clever thirty-year-old is not precocious.

Precocious describes a child who is ahead of their agePrecocious(早熟)形容的是一個發展超前同齡人的小孩 — reading at three, playing concertos at seven, or talking to adults the way another adult would——像三歲就會認字、七歲就能彈協奏曲，或是講話老練得像個大人在跟大人說話。 It is about arriving early這個字講的是「早到」這件事， so it is used almost only of children and of the things children do所以幾乎只用在小孩身上，還有小孩做的事； a clever thirty-year-old is not precocious一個聰明的三十歲成年人不會被說成precocious。

The tone is the tricky part. Said of ability, it is usually admiring: a precocious talent, a precocious young violinist. Said of behaviour, especially in British English, it often carries a small sting — a precocious child there can mean one who is a bit too grown-up, too confident, answering back, saying things a child should not be saying yet. You have to read the sentence to know which one you are getting. American use leans a little more towards the admiring sense.

The tone語氣 is the tricky part才是麻煩的地方。 Said of ability用在能力上的時候， it is usually admiring通常是稱讚： a precocious talent, a precocious young violinist像precocious talent(早發的天賦)、a precocious young violinist(早熟的小提琴神童)。 Said of behaviour用在行為上的時候， especially in British English尤其是英式英文裡， it often carries a small sting常常帶點小小的刺 — a precocious child there can mean one who is a bit too grown-up, too confident——那時候a precocious child可能是指一個有點太老成、太自信的小孩， answering back, saying things a child should not be saying yet會頂嘴，講一些小孩還不該講的話。 You have to read the sentence你得看整句話 to know which one you are getting才知道是哪一種意思。 American use美式用法 leans a little more towards the admiring sense比較偏向稱讚的那個意思。

There is also a technical use in biology and farming: precocious plants flower early, precocious animals develop early.

There is also a technical use in biology and farming在生物學和農業裡也有專業用法： precocious plants flower earlyprecocious plants(早花植物)指的是提早開花的植物， precocious animals develop earlyprecocious animals(早熟動物)指的是提早發育的動物。

And there is a lovely piece of history in the word — 'apricot' comes from the same root, because it was the fruit that ripened before the others.

And there is a lovely piece of history in the word這個字還藏著一段很可愛的歷史 — 'apricot' comes from the same root——'apricot'(杏桃)跟它同一個字根， because it was the fruit that ripened before the others因為杏桃就是比其他水果早熟的那種果實。