English
mature
Mature comes from Latin mātūrus ‘mature, full-grown’, from Proto-Italic *mātus ‘ripeness’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂-‘to ripen, to mature’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂-tu-‘id’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mātus‘ripeness’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmātūrus‘mature, full-grown’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mature
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘mature (ripe)’
- Englishtodaysame form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂-‘to ripen, to mature’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂-tu-‘id’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mātus‘ripeness’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmātūrus‘mature, full-grown’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600mature
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘mature (ripe)’
- Englishtodaysame form
The story
Partially displaced ripe, from Old English rīpe (‘ripe, mature’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- ‘to ripen, to mature’
most, mo, mistress, mat, matinee, magisterial, demure, mañana, matin, 21 more
through Latin mātūrus ‘mature, full-grown’
Another origin of mature
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂-‘to ripen, to mature’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*meh₂-tu-‘id’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mātus‘ripeness’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmātūrus‘ripe, mature’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmātūrō‘to ripen, make ripe, bring to maturity’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600maturer‘to mature’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500maturen
- Englishtodaymature
Today it means
adj Fully developed; grown up in terms of physical appearance, behaviour or thinking; ripe.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- / mature