| 释义 |
maturation|mætjʊˈreɪʃən|
Also 6 maduracyon, maturacion, 7 erron. -ition.
[a. F. maturation, ad. L. mātūrātiōn-em, n. of action f. mātūrāre: see maturate and mature vbs.]
1. Med. The ‘ripening’ of morbific matter; the process by which matter is formed in an abscess or a vesicle becomes a pustule, suppuration; the action of causing this process.
1541Copland Guydon's Form. S iij, The fyrste [cure] is to rype the mater. The seconde after the maduracyon to open it. 1543Traheron tr. Vigo's Chirurg. ii. i. 13 b/2 Humours..whych nature canne not..bringe to maturation or suppuration. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 23/4 Perseaving it to be come to his full maturation and ripnes. 1684tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. i. 17 The parts affected may be cleared of the Thrush by maturation of it. 1791Boswell Johnson an. 1760, Mr. Sharpe is of opinion that the tedious maturation of the cataract is a vulgar error. 1800Med. Jrnl. III. 502 The progressive stages of inflammation, maturation, and scabbing. 1861Graham Pract. Med. 665 The period of maturation of the eruption. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 565 The maturation of the pocks.
†2. Alchemy. The operation of converting a baser metal into gold. Cf. maturate v. 4. Obs.
1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1639) 273 Maturation is exaltation of a substance, rude and crude to that which is mature and perfect. 1626Bacon Sylva §326 We conceive indeed, that a perfect good Concoction, or Digestion, or Maturation of some Metalls, will produce Gold. 1671J. Webster Metallographia ii. 31 Whose Art of..Maturation of Metals he laboureth to prove to be false.
†3. Physics. The (supposed) natural ripening or development of material substances by the operation of heat and motion. Obs.
a1652J. Smith Sel. Disc. iv. iii. (1821) 75 The very grass..may..after many refinings, macerations, and maturations,..spring up into so many rational souls. 1665–6Phil. Trans. I. 338 Whether..the Mine will afford Ore or Metal in tract of time,..and whether to this Maturation of the Mine, the being exposed to the free Aire be necessary. 1753S. Shuckford Creation & Fall 133 Little Particles..which have..in the Maturation of Ages, remained sandy and sabulous..or become Rocks or Minerals.
4. a. Of fruits, the juices of plants, etc.: The action or process of ripening or becoming ripe; development to ripeness; also, an instance of this.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. i. ii. v, Maturation is especially obserued in the fruits of trees. 1770–4A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1803) I. 49 Maturation of their seed, seems all that is required of them. 1791Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. i. vi. 115 By maturation, the fruit from having been hard grows soft..and sweet. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 292 After the maturation of the fruit..they are plucked. 1882Garden 7 Jan. 4/1 Perfect maturation of the foliage, which means maturation of the bulb.
b. Of liquors or other things undergoing preparation for use: The action of maturing; the process of becoming matured.
1605Timme Quersitanus ii. vi. S b, So wee see, that wines in whose maturation or rypening the heate of the sunne failed are made more crude and sharpe. 1626Bacon Sylva §312 For the Maturation of Drinkes, it is wrought by the Congregation of the Spirits together. 1675Evelyn Terra 59 If..the ground seem to require an hastier maturation, there may be a crop of Beans [etc.] sown upon it, which will mellow it exceedingly. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 348 Ginger accelerateth the Maturation of Cyder. 1743Lond. & Country Brew. iii. (ed. 2) 201 The Liquor has before received due Maturation in the Copper and Mash-tun. 1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 17 Oct. 1774 The idea of making compost useful while in a state of maturation. 1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 83 The downy filaments of cotton..get more or less flattened in the maturation and drying of the wool. 1902Daily Chron. 7 Jan. 6/3 A lengthy process of maturation in sherry casks is required to make it [whisky] a wholesome beverage.
5. The action or process of coming to full growth or development:
a. of man, his faculties, etc. In Psychol., the physical growth which, together with learning, leads to full development. Also transf.
1616J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. v. 492 Our care to feede them [children],..our after cares, as they gaine maturation. 1660G. Fleming Stemma sacrum 6 From the first time that could begin any Maturition to his Judgement. 1693J. Tyrrell Law Nat. 30 There happens to us Men..Maturation, Decay, and Dissolution. 1820Foster Ess. Evils Pop. Ignor. 294 The maturation of the spiritual being, to the highest attainable degree. 1834–43Southey Doctor clxxxv. (1862) 483 Imputing to the decay of our nature that which results from its maturation. 1921Psychol. Rev. May 196 The process runs along parallel with the process of maturation and it is not clear in any case just what is contributed by heredity and what is due to learning. 1938R. S. Woodworth Exper. Psychol. xxix. 764 Maturation consists largely in development of the ability to learn. 1943C. T. Morgan Physiol. Psychol. vii. 124 Many experiments have been carried out on the general problem of the relative importance of maturation and learning. 1958K. Lovell Educ. Psychol. & Children vii. 103 In studying the effects of maturation on learning in children, use has been made..of identical twins. 1968M. Bunge in Lakatos & Musgrave Probl. Philos. Sci. 134 Scientific Research can pass through several phases of maturation, the degree of maturity attained depending on the depth and the logical organization of the ideas involved. 1970D. S. Wright et al. Introducing Psychol. iv. 70 There is still some value in contrasting maturation and learning... This is simply a convenient way of classifying different antecedent conditions of the single process of development.
b. of plants, animals, etc. spec. of their gametes.
1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 61 To give..vegetation and maturation to Plants. 1655–87H. More App. Antid. xiii. (1712) 223 He found these Birds [Tree geese] in several degrees of maturation. 1755B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. iii. xi. 376 The Maturation, and bringing to Perfection the Chicken contained in Embryo. 1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. 146 Organs..which are appropriated to the..maturation, exclusion and deposition of their eggs. 1884W. K. Parker Mammal. Descent ii. (1885) 55 The growth and maturation of the germs. 1896E. B. Wilson Cell 338 Maturation, the final stages in the development of the germ-cells. More specifically, the processes by which the reduction of the number of chromosomes is effected. 1904Brit. Med. Jrnl. 17 Dec. 1643 The maturation and fertilization of the ovum. 1972Balin & Glasser Reproductive Biol. v. 319 (heading) Maturation of epididymal spermatozoa.
c. of a disease.
1818–20E. Thompson Cullen's Nosol. Meth. (ed. 3) 331 A vesicular disease, which..passes through a regular course of increase, maturation, and decline. 1871Darwin Desc. Man I. i. 12 That mysterious law which causes..the maturation..of various diseases, to follow lunar periods.
d. transf. and fig. esp. the completing or perfecting (of a plan, work, etc.).
1655Theophania 165 The birth, growth and maturation of our Love. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 111 ⁋3 Time sufficient for the regular maturation of our schemes. Ibid. No. 156 ⁋12 A play represents some transaction, through its regular maturation to its final event. 1845J. H. Newman Developm. Chr. Doctrine (1878) 38 The germination and maturation of some truth. 1884G. Allen Philistia III. xxxvii. 273 The pamphlet and the paper were in course of maturation.
†6. The forwarding (of a business, etc.). Obs.
1584Leycesters Commonw. (1641) 98 It..tendeth directly to Maturation of the principall purpose. 1623Cockeram, Maturation, a hastening. 1655Fuller Church Hist. ix. xvi. 173 The said Convocation met..for the maturation of business with the more expedition.
7. attrib., as maturation division Biol., either of the two divisions of meiosis.
1896E. B. Wilson Cell v. 185 It is plain that the nature of the maturation-divisions can only be approached through a study of the origin of the tetrads. 1966Chromosoma XIX. 99 (heading) The maturation divisions of the parthenogenetic stick insect Carausius morosus Br.
Hence matuˈrational a., of or pertaining to maturation (esp. sense 5).
1929A. Gesell in C. Murchison Found. Exper. Psychol. 651 (heading) Maturational correspondence in identical twins. Ibid. 658 Maturational factors preserve his native endowment. 1953New Biol. XIV. 27 Clearly this ‘setting’ of the perceptual and behavioural pattern in the third and fourth years must have as its base important maturational changes in the physiology and anatomy of the brain. 1961J. Berko in Saporta & Bastian Psycholinguistics vi. 372/1 Throughout childhood, girls are perhaps from a maturational point of view slightly ahead of the boys who are their chronological age mates. |