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
- The state of being fully grown or developed; adulthood.
- The quality of behaving sensibly, like an adult.
- (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
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ 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