mature

«mature» in Mova's school dictionary: fully grown or developed: «a mature oak tree» — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (mature, maturer/more mature, maturest/most mature); verb (mature, matures, matured, maturing)

meaning for a pupil

1) Mature means fully grown or developed: «a mature oak tree». tree →

2) Mature means behaving in a sensible, grown-up way. tree →

3) (verb) To mature means to grow up, or to become ready: cheese and fruit mature with time. tree →

4) (euphemism) Mature can mean older, as in «mature students». tree →

sense in the lessons

In science, plants and animals mature into adults (life cycles). In everyday life a mature person is sensible. In money, savings «mature» when they can be collected. Phrases: «mature for her age», «a mature decision», «mature cheese».

examples

• The caterpillar matures into a butterfly. tree →
• She is very mature for her age. tree →
• It takes years for an oak tree to mature. tree →
• That was a mature way to settle the argument. tree →
• Mature cheddar has a strong taste. tree →
• Mature students go back to college as adults. tree →

note

Pronounced ma-CHOOR or ma-TYOOR. Opposite: immature. Noun: maturity. «Mature» about films can mean for adults only.

In the corpora

• "Mature" in adverts and dating means older, for example "mature students".
• In the USA and Canada games are rated by the ESRB; M means Mature, suitable for about 17 and up.
• At home Zara asked her mum what «mature content» on the box meant.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mature» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.