mature definition
Overview
This page has 25 definitions of mature with English translations in 6 languages. Mature is an adjective, verb and noun. Examples of how to use mature in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .
English mature definition
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /məˈtjʊə/, /məˈt͡ʃʊə/, /məˈt͡ʃɔː/
Audio (UK) (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /məˈt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹ/, /məˈt͡ʃɝ/, /məˈt(j)ʊəɹ/
- Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ), -ɜː(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ)
Etymology 1
From late Middle English mature, from Middle French mature, from Latin mātūrus. Doublet of maduro. Partially displaced ripe, from Old English rīpe (“ripe, mature”).
Adjective
mature (comparative maturer or more mature, superlative maturest or most mature)
- Fully developed; grown up in terms of physical appearance, behaviour or thinking; ripe.
- She is quite mature for her age.
- The excellent mature eggplants grown in the garden plot are quickly being being picked up by family and friends.
- Brought to a state of complete readiness.
- a mature plan
- Profound; careful.
- The headmaster decided to expel the boy after a mature consideration.
- (medicine, obsolete) Come to, or in a state of, completed suppuration.
- (television, film) Suitable for adults only, due to sexual themes, violence, etc.
- mature content
Synonyms
- (grown up in terms of physical appearance): adult, grown; see also Thesaurus:full-grown
- (grown up in terms of behaviour or thinking): adultish, grown up; see also Thesaurus:mature
- (suitable for adults only): adult; see also Thesaurus:for adults
Antonyms
- (grown up): childish, immature
- (profound): superficial
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English maturen, from Middle French maturer (“to mature”), from Latin mātūrō.
Verb
mature (third-person singular simple present matures, present participle maturing, simple past and past participle matured)
- (intransitive) To proceed toward maturity: full development or completion (either of concrete or of abstract things, e.g. plans, judgments, qualities).
- (intransitive, of food, especially fruit) To attain maturity, to become mature or ripe.
- 1670, Evelyn, John, chapter 35, in Sylva, or, A Discourse of Forest-trees, London, page 246:
- […] Trees […] have alwayes Fruit upon them, ripe, or preparing to mature;
- (transitive) To bring (something) to maturity, full development, or completion.
- 1667, Milton, John, Paradise Lost[2], book 1, lines 659-660:
- […] But these thoughts
Full Counsel must mature:
- 1768, Hoole, John, Cyrus: A Tragedy[3], act I, London: T. Davies, page 12:
- […] much it now
Imports they should be still deceiv’d, till time
Matures our enterprize;
- 1853, Gaskell, Elizabeth, Cranford, New York: Harper, Chapter 13, p. 262,[4]:
- […] I did not interrupt her, I was so busy maturing a plan I had had in my mind for some days […]
- 1953, Saul Bellow, chapter 8, in The Adventures of Augie March, New York: Viking Press, OCLC 279587, page 143:
- […] the long clean groove of her upper lip was ready to go into motion, as if she were going to break her silence with something momentous and long-matured; explain love to me, perhaps.
- (transitive) To make (something, e.g. fruit) ripe or mature.
- 1782, Cowper, William, “Charity”, in Poems[5], London: J. Johnson, page 202:
- […] a ship well freighted with the stores
The sun matures on India’s spicy shores,
- 2009, Findlay, Hugh, Practical Gardening, Vegetables and Fruits[6]:
- There are certain vegetables like the tomato which require a long period to mature the fruit, and these must be started several weeks before the frosts have passed.
- Synonym: ripen
- (intransitive, of a person) To proceed toward or become mature or full-grown, either physically or psychologically; to gain experience or wisdom with age.
- Synonyms: age, develop, grow up; see also Thesaurus:to age
- (transitive) To make (someone) mature.
- 1776, Cowley, Hannah, The Runaway[7], London: Prologue:
- Then Tom shall have his kite, and Fan new dollies,
Till time matures them for important follies.
- 1970, Davies, Robertson, chapter 2, in Fifth Business[8], part 6, Toronto: Macmillan, page 103:
- […] what I most wanted was time to grow up. The war had not matured me;
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:make older
- (intransitive, finance) To reach the date when payment is due.
- When the bond matures, the full face value is payable to its bearer.
Synonyms
Derived terms
- maturable
- mature up
Translations
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Anagrams
French mature definition
Etymology
From Middle French mature, borrowed from Latin mātūrus. Doublet of mûr.
Pronunciation
Adjective
mature (plural matures)
- (of a person) mature
Verb
mature
- inflection of maturer:
Further reading
- “mature”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian mature definition
Pronunciation
Adjective
mature f pl
Anagrams
Latin mature definition
Adjective
mātūre
References
- “mature”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “mature”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- mature in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
Middle English mature definition
Etymology 1
From Middle French mature and its etymon Latin mātūrus.
Pronunciation
Adjective
mature (rare, Late Middle English)
Descendants
- English: mature
References
- “mā̆tūre, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
Noun
mature
- Alternative form of matere
Etymology 3
Verb
mature
- Alternative form of maturen
Portuguese mature definition
Verb
mature