mature

1 adjective

1 SENSIBLE a child or young person who is mature behaves in a sensible and reasonable way, as you would expect an older person to behave: She's very mature for her age. | John has always shown a mature attitude to his work.

—opposite immature

2 FULLY GROWN fully grown and developed: The mature eagle has a wingspan of over six feet.

3 WINE/CHEESE ETC mature cheese, wine etc has a good strong flavour which has developed during a long period of time: mature cheddar

4 OLDER a polite or humorous way of describing someone who is no longer young; middle­aged: We design clothes for the maturer woman. | of mature years: a respectable gentleman of mature years

5 NOVEL/PAINTING ETC a mature piece of work by a writer or an artist shows a high level of understanding or skill

6 on mature reflection/consideration formal after thinking about something carefully: On mature reflection we have decided to decline their offer.

7 FINANCIAL technical a mature bond 1 (1) or policy (2) is ready to be paid

— maturely adverb 2 verb matured, maturing

1 (I) to become fully grown or developed: A kitten matures when it is about a year old.

2 (I) to become sensible and start to behave like an adult: He has matured a lot since he left home.

3 (I, T) if a cheese, wine, whisky etc matures or is matured, it develops a good strong flavour over a period of time

4 (I) technical if a financial arrangement such as a bond 1 (1) or policy (2) matures, it becomes ready to be paid