Word family noun maturity ≠ immaturity adjective mature ≠ immature verb mature adverb maturely ≠ immaturely
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmaturema‧ture1 /məˈtʃʊə $ -ˈtʃʊr/ ●●○ AWL adjective 1 sensibleSENSIBLE someone, especially a child or young person, who is mature behaves in a sensible and reasonable way, as you would expect an adult to behave OPP immature Laura is very mature for her age. We’re mature enough to disagree on this issue but still respect each other.2 fully grownADULT fully grown and developed OPP immature Mature apple trees are typically 20 feet tall. The new leader wants his country to be seen as a mature democracy. The human brain isn’t fully mature until about age 25.physically/emotionally/sexually mature Most girls are sexually mature by about 14 years of age.3 wine/cheese etcDFDFD British English mature cheese, wine etc has a good strong taste which has developed during a long period of time OPP mild mature cheddar4 olderADULT a polite or humorous way of describing someone who is no longer young SYN middle-aged wedding fashions for mature brides a respectable gentleman of mature years5 novel/painting etcA a mature piece of work by a writer or an artist is done late in their life and shows a high level of understanding or skill His mature work reveals a deep sense of enjoyment of nature. 6 → on mature reflection/consideration7 BFfinancial a mature bond or policy is ready to be paid8 → mature market/industry —maturely adverb If you want us to treat you as an adult, you have to act maturely.Examples from the Corpus
mature• After two years of college, the students have a much more mature attitude.• One mature backyard lemon tree can produce 300 lemons.• The magazine features wedding ideas for the mature bride.• A hen is a mature female chicken, more than ten months old.• She's very mature for her age.• A mature grapefruit tree can produce 250 grapefruit.• Mel's developed into a mature, hard-working person.• They want everyone to take to the streets, but people are more mature now.• The house has a lovely garden surrounded by mature oak trees.• A reasonably mature population ought to be able to handle that.• Nobody told you to flirt with me like a grown mature responsible adult man would do.• The mature shell size also varies from small species a few centimetres across to giants of a metre or more in diameter.• Penny seemed more mature than most of the other students.• He grows roses and part of the grounds consists of a copse of mature trees.• Eagles aren't sexually mature until age five.• Mature violets reach a height of about 12 inches.• It has a large garden with fruit trees and a splendid mature walnut tree.mature enough• Elizabeth: I think some people are never mature enough.• How the different pairs respond will indicate to her whether any of them are mature enough in drama to structure for themselves.• He is a good swimmer - quite good enough, and quite mature enough in that way, to respect flood water.• But their companion, the third boy, was a tall redhead and not mature enough to be quick on his feet.• Last year, it seemed he had matured enough to fulfil himself but a cruel succession of injuries denied him.• But a lot of people are mature enough to separate the person from his politics.• But we had to be mature enough to undertake this independence.• Lustig says he believes children 12 and older are mature enough to watch and understand the movie.physically/emotionally/sexually mature• Science's masculine image makes it more appealing to boys who are likely to be less emotionally mature.• Barn owls leave the nest at two to three months and are sexually mature at one year.• Some species can be extremely difficult to spawn - but keeping large species groups together until they are sexually mature can help.• She found more deaths among sexually mature females than among males, which gave a skew in the latter's favour.• A solitary males will patrol the cliffs in search of bands of sexually mature females.• Two emotionally mature parents, moderate family income and stable home life are way ahead of age on the list.• They also said the sexually mature whale needed a mate.• The end result of evolution through man's desire was to produce a sexually mature wolf pup. of mature years• One of the drawbacks to being of mature years is the tendency to forget or mislay things - like keys.maturemature2 ●○○ AWL verb 1 [intransitive]ADULT to become fully grown or developed As the fish matures, its colours and patternings change.mature into She has matured into a fine writer.2 [intransitive]SENSIBLE to become sensible and start to behave sensibly and reasonably, like an adult He has matured a lot since he left home. He wants to prove just how much he has matured both as a player and as a man.3 [intransitive]DF if a financial arrangement such as a bond or an insurance policy matures, it becomes ready to be paid4 [intransitive, transitive]DFDFD if cheese, wine etc matures, or if it is matured, it develops a good strong taste over a period of time Few beers brewed in Britain are matured in the bottle. The olives are pulped, then left to mature.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
mature• A tree takes many years to mature.• Some early doubts as to the applicability of that privilege before a legislative committee never matured.• This was mid-June, and in the nearby fields, next season s crops were maturing.• This will probably develop as he matures.• It starts with a potent aperitif called Mulsum which takes twenty four hours to mature.• Any project involving rockets is always risky, but the technology is maturing all the time.• The 13-week bills mature April 4,1996, and the 26-week bills mature July 5,1996.• These bonds mature in 12 years.• The fly matures in only seven days.• John's really matured in the last two years.• Girls tend to mature more quickly than boys, both physically and emotionally.• In the hot weather the fruit matured quickly.• Corn needs longer to mature than soybeans.• The haulm must be allowed to mature to increase the dry matter content.From Longman Business Dictionarymaturema‧ture1 /məˈtʃʊə-ˈtʊr/ verb [intransitive]1FINANCE if a financial arrangement such as a bond or an INSURANCE POLICY matures, it becomes ready to be paidThe debentures will mature in five years’ time.2to become fully developedThe country’s economy has matured and become more open to competition.3ECONOMICSif an industry or market matures, it stops growing as fast as before, and the number of competitors decreasesWhen the market begins to mature, it is increasingly difficult for new entrants to gain a significant position.→ See Verb tablematuremature2 adjectiveECONOMICS a mature industry or market is one where growth is relatively low and there are fewer competitors than beforeMany emerging markets have outpaced (=developed more quickly than) more mature markets such as the U.S. and Japan.Origin mature1 (1300-1400) Latin maturus 