From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprematurepre‧ma‧ture /ˈpremətʃə, -tʃʊə, ˌpreməˈtʃʊə $ ˌpriːməˈtʃʊr◂/ ●○○ adjective 1 EARLYhappening before the natural or proper time his premature death due to cancer premature ageing of the skin2 MBa premature baby is born before the usual time of birth a premature birth The baby was six weeks premature.3 EARLYdone too early or too soon a premature order to attack Any talk of a deal is premature.it is premature (for somebody) to do something It would be premature to accuse anyone until the investigation is complete. —prematurely adverb The baby was born prematurely.
Examples from the Corpus
premature• It has been proved that sunbathing causes premature ageing of the skin.• Her baby was premature and weighed only 2kg.• They looked empty and forlorn as if they had not yet adjusted themselves to their premature change of life.• Traffic was at an angry crawl, a dazzling confusion of lights and wet reflections in the premature darkness.• Payton's premature death was caused by lung cancer.• Alcoholism is one of the major causes of premature death.• Even so, Mr Mieno seems in no mood to be pushed into premature easing.• I wanted everything to advance at its own pace-no abrupt moves, no premature gestures.• Naturally, this is much more difficult for the parents of a premature infant.• And just exactly how many weeks premature is this baby?• But I caught myself, decided not to make premature judgments, and tried to listen as sympathetically as I could.• It would be premature to conclude that Wilson will lose the election.Origin premature (1500-1600) Latin praematurus, from maturus; → MATURE1 