Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word madurar
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- 1569 Cardoso's dictionary More words from the 16th century
- Inherited from
- Latin maturo
- Ultimate origin
- Latin mātūrus
Etymology tree
From the same root
Pronunciation
Forms
madurar (first-person singular present maduro, first-person singular preterite madurei, past participle madurado)[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Latin mātūrō (“to ripen”), the popular form of the word whose learned doublet is maturar.[2][3][1][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from mātūrus (“ripe”), which gave maduro.[6][1][7]
The same Latin verb is Galician madurar, Spanish madurar, Catalan madurar, Occitan madurar and Italian maturare.[8][9] French mûrir continues Old French meürer with a change of conjugation.[8][9][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Houaiss dates the verb to before 1569, from António Ferreira's poems, and Cunha to the 16th century.[2][3] Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 glosses it as “to make ripe”, Latin maturo.[10]
Semantic evolution
Barbosa (1611) and Pereira (1697) give the same sense, with Latin maturo.[11][12] Bluteau (1716) records a surgeons' sense, to bring an abscess to a head with ripening remedies, and the popular “to suppurate” is still in Michaelis.[13][14] Feijó (1734) sets madurar beside madurecer, and Vieira (1874) refers it to amadurar.[15][16] Figuratively the verb means to grow wise and prudent with age.[5][17] Porto notes that it is less used than amadurecer.[18]
Timeline
- before 1569 – António Ferreira uses the verb, according to Houaiss.[2]
- 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary lists madurar.[10]
- 1611 – Barbosa glosses it with Latin maturo.[11]
- 1716 – Bluteau records the surgeons' sense.[13]
- 1734 – Feijó lists madurar and madurecer.[15]
Meanings
Verb
- (transitive) To make ripe (maduro); to ripen.[2][17][14]
- (intransitive) To become ripe; amadurecer.[2][19][1]
- (figurative) To grow in judgement and prudence; to mature.[5][17][18]
- (popular) Of a boil or abscess: to come to a head, to suppurate (supurar).[14][13]
Word family
- amadurar
Related words
Usage notes
Vieira quotes the proverb Agosto madura, Setembro vindima “August ripens, September harvests the grapes”.[16]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. madurar
- ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. maturar
- ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. madurar
- ^ a b c Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. madurar
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. maduro
- ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. maturare
- ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. madurar
- ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. madurar
- ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. madurar
- ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. madurar
- ^ a b c Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. madurar
- ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. madurar
- ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 20
- ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. madurar
- ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5835
- ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. madurar
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Madurar.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/madurar. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.
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