| 释义 |
maturity|məˈtjʊərɪtɪ|
Also 4 maturite, 5 -yte, 6 -itee.
[ad. F. maturité (15–16th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) or its source L. matūritās, f. mātūrus: see mature a. and -ity.]
†1. Deliberateness of action; mature consideration, due deliberation. Obs.
c1375Barbour Bruce xi. 583 Bot nane of thame so hardely Ruschit emang thame as did he, Bot with fer mair maturite. 1534Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B v b, A thyng that a sage personne with greatte maturitie and deliberation hath written. 1604T. Wright Passions ii. x. 41 Yoong men and women..resolve rashly, and performe rarely, because that they concluded without maturity. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋14 Matters of such weight and consequence are to bee speeded with maturitie. 1706tr. Dupin's Eccl. Hist. 16th C. II. iii. xxi. 387 It shall be done, after Examination of the Case, with the utmost Maturity. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. Pref. 15 The study of profane history when entered upon with judgment and maturity.
†2. Due promptness. Obs.
1531Elyot Gov. i. xxii. (1546) 71 b, Yet of these two [celeritie and slownesse] springeth an excellent vertue, whervnto we lacke a name in englishe. Wherfore I am constrained to vsurpe a latine worde, callyng it Maturitie. c1540tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 77 Agricola..hasted with maturitee [L. maturat] to resiste this eminent perrill. Ibid. 172 Which thing this yonge impe executed with great maturitee [L. mature fecit]. 1670Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 339 All things will be perfected doubtlesse with all possible maturity.
3. The state of being mature; fullness or perfection of development or growth.
a. Of a person (mentally and physically) or his attributes; also, the state of being of age.
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 23918 She was of gret sobrenesse..and of gret maturyte. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 664 To abide and tarie the maturitie and decent full age of this noble princes. 1603Daniel Panegyr. to King lxiv, Thy full maturitie Of yeares and wisdome. 1651G. W. tr. Cowel's Inst. 29 This age [one and twenty] with us is perfect and full maturity. 1796Burke Regic. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 146 When I was very young, a general fashion told me I was to admire some of the writings against that Minister: a little more maturity taught me as much to despise them. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. i. 115 Till she reached years of maturity, she was confided to French guardianship. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. xi. 106 Lines which embody the subdued and limited desires of my maturity. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. I. vi. 531 In the full maturity of life.
b. Of animals, plants, etc.: The state of being full grown.
1597Gerarde Herbal clxvii. 1391 In short space after it [the barnacle-goose] commeth to full maturitie, and falleth into the sea. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 317 The seeded Pride That hath to this maturity blowne vp In ranke Achilles, must..now be cropt. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. iv. 114 The inclosed Fœtus; which at the time of maturity broke through those Membranes. 1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty vi. 29 A single spreading oak, grown to maturity. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 328 She lays four or five eggs; of which but a part..come to maturity. 1833G. R. Porter Tropical Agric. 158 All the [tobacco] plants throughout the same field do not arrive together at their full maturity. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight ii. 25 Each one [eyelash] reaches maturity in about five months, and then drops out.
c. Of fruits, wine, etc.: Ripeness.
1665Boyle Occas. Refl. (1848) 68 Green Fruit..being neither sweetned nor concocted by Maturity. 1676Worlidge Cider ii. §3. 14 The Bloud of the Grape obtains not that degree of Maturity in the Fruit, as [etc.]. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 302 Large Shoots that impede the Fruit from its due Maturity. 1843Penny Cycl. XXVII. 464/1 When wines have been kept in the wood for the period..proper for attaining maturity.
4. Of immaterial things: The state of being complete, perfect or ready.
1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis iii. xi. 187 He may be sent backe..upon hope of being recalled, when things are come to better maturity. a1635Naunton Fragm. Reg. (A. b.) 36 The Secretary might have had end of discovery on a further maturity of the Treason. 1719F. Hare Ch. Authority Vind. 26 Till things were come to that maturity that the dispensation of the Gospel did no longer want them. 1732Swift Repeal. Test Wks. 1761 III. 293 They must wait maturity of time. 1785Reid Intell. Powers i. vi. 241 One science may be brought to a great degree of maturity. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 265 Measures which..were nearly brought to maturity. 1852Conybeare & Howson St. Paul (1862) I. 54 The revolution of which Herod had sown the seeds now came to maturity.
†b. pl. Matured conditions. Obs. rare—1.
1633Adams Exp. 2 Peter i. 1 Canaan..was already furnished to their hands: Nature had enriched it with commodities, and Industry beautified it with buildings and maturities.
5. Comm. The state of becoming due for payment; the time at which a bill becomes due.
1815Dallas in Taunton Comm. Pleas. Rep. (1818) VI. 311 The period that intervened between the refusal to accept and the bill arriving at maturity for payment. 1860Commerc. Handbk. 15 The period of the date of maturity of bills at or after sight. 1861Goschen For. Exch. 135 When their drafts come to maturity. 1901Scotsman 30 Oct. 5/1 For six months' maturities the rate is still maintained at 3½ to 35/8.
6. The state of an abscess in which the pus is fully formed (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1890).
1676Wiseman Surg. i. xvii. 79 Three or four days after they [sc. pustules] came to maturity, and brake.
Add:7. Special Comb. maturity-onset a. Path., designating forms of diabetes that typically develop in overweight, middle-aged patients, esp. non-insulin-dependent diabetes.
1965Fajans & Conn in Leibel & Wrenshall Nature & Treatment of Diabetes (Excerpta Medica Internat. Congr. Ser. LXXXIV) xlvi. 648 The asymptomatic ‘maturity-onset type’ of diabetes was first recognized in 10 children..by the demonstration of mildly to grossly abnormal glucose tolerance tests. 1990Health Guardian May/June 3/2 Free radicals are increasingly linked with a wide range of degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, maturity-onset diabetes, cataracts and Alzheimer's disease. |