maturity

Pronunciation

• IPA: /məˈtjʊəɹɪti/, /-ɹət-/ (UK); /məˈtʊɹəti/, /-t͡ʃʊɹ-/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English maturite, borrowed from Old French maturité and directly Latin mātūritās (“ripeness”),^[2][3][4] from mātūrus (“ripe”) (see mature).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mature consideration, due deliberation: about 1375 in the OED;^[5] maturity of character in the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Full mental and physical development of a person is from 1426,^[5] and ripeness or completeness from the mid-15th century.^[2] The word seems to have been reborrowed in early Modern English: Sir Thomas Elyot in 1531 wrote that he was forced to ‘usurp a Latin word’ for it.^[2] The full growth of animals and plants is from 1597,^[5] the ripeness of fruit and wine from 1665,^[5] and the financial sense, the time when a bill or bond falls due, by 1815.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1375 – due deliberation.^[5]
• 1426 – full development of a person.^[5]
• 1531 – reborrowed by Elyot.^[2]
• 1597 – full growth of plants and animals.^[5]
• 1815 – maturity of a bill.^[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The state of being fully grown or developed; adulthood.
2. The quality of behaving sensibly, like an adult.
3. (finance) The date when a bond or bill becomes due for repayment.

Word family

• nonmaturity
• overmaturity
• semimaturity
• yield to maturity

Related words

• maturation
• mature
• immature
• premature

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press