mature

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See also: mâture and maturé

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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

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mature (comparative more mature, superlative most mature)

  1. 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.
  2. Brought to a state of complete readiness.
    a mature plan
  3. Profound; careful.
    The headmaster decided to expel the boy after a mature consideration.
  4. (medicine, obsolete) Come to, or in a state of, completed suppuration.
  5. (television, film) Suitable for adults only, due to sexual themes, violence, etc.
    mature content
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

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From Middle English maturen, from Middle French maturer (“to mature”), from Latin mātūrō.

Verb

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mature (third-person singular simple present matures, present participle maturing, simple past and past participle matured)

  1. (intransitive) To proceed toward maturity: full development or completion (either of concrete or of abstract things, e.g. plans, judgments, qualities).
    Synonyms: develop, grow, progress, ripen
    • 1797, Mr. Harrison, “A Biographical Sketch of Hogarth”, in The Comick Magazine‎[1], volume 1, London: Harrison and Co., page 3:
      […] his originality, in the mean time, was maturing to perfection.
  2. (intransitive, of food, especially fruit) To attain maturity, to become mature or ripe.
    Synonyms: ripen, ripen up
    • 1670, John Evelyn, chapter 35, in Sylva, or, A Discourse of Forest-trees‎[2], London, page 246:
      […] Trees […] have alwayes Fruit upon them, ripe, or preparing to mature;
  3. (transitive) To bring (something) to maturity, full development, or completion.
    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost‎[3], book 1, lines 659–660:
      […] But these thoughts
      Full Counsel must mature:
    • 1768, John Hoole, Cyrus: A Tragedy‎[4], London: T. Davies, act I, page 12:
      […] much it now
      Imports they should be still deceiv’d, till time
      Matures our enterprize;
    • 1853, Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford, New York: Harper, Chapter 13, p. 262,[5]:
      […] 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, 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.
  4. (transitive) To make (something, e.g. fruit) ripe or mature.
    Synonym: ripen
    • 1782, William Cowper, “Charity”, in Poems‎[6], London: J. Johnson, page 202:
      […] a ship well freighted with the stores
      The sun matures on India’s spicy shores,
    • 2009, Hugh Findlay, Practical Gardening, Vegetables and Fruits‎[7]:
      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.
  5. (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
  6. (transitive) To make (someone) mature.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:make older
    • 1776, Hannah Cowley, The Runaway‎[8], London: Prologue:
      Then Tom shall have his kite, and Fan new dollies,
      Till time matures them for important follies.
    • 1970, Robertson Davies, chapter 2, in Fifth Business‎[9], part 6, Toronto: Macmillan, page 103:
      […] what I most wanted was time to grow up. The war had not matured me;
  7. (intransitive, finance) To reach the date when payment is due.
    When the bond matures, the full face value is payable to its bearer.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French mature, borrowed from Latin mātūrus. Doublet of mûr.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mature (plural matures)

  1. (of a person) mature

Verb

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mature

  1. inflection of maturer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /maˈtu.re/
  • Rhymes: -ure
  • Hyphenation: ma‧tù‧re

Adjective

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mature f pl

  1. feminine plural of maturo

Anagrams

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Latin

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Adjective

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mātūre

  1. vocative masculine singular of mātūrus

Adverb

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mātūrē (comparative mātūrius, superlative mātūrissimē)

  1. early, speedy, ripe, mature, mellow, timely, seasonable

References

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle French mature and its etymon Latin mātūrus.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /maˈtiu̯r(ə)/, /maːˈtiu̯r(ə)/

Adjective

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mature (rare, Late Middle English)

  1. mature (ripe)
  2. mature (careful)
Descendants
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  • English: mature
References
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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mature

  1. Alternative form of matere

Etymology 3

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Verb

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mature

  1. Alternative form of maturen

Portuguese

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Verb

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mature

  1. inflection of maturar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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