maturated
Meaning
Maturated is the past tense and past participle of maturate: it means became mature or brought to maturity, and in pathology it can mean that a wound or lesion formed or discharged pus (suppurated).
Meanings of “maturated”
Reached or progressed toward full development; a formal or technical synonym of matured.123
- Tone
- Formal / scientific more often than everyday speech; many speakers simply say matured.
- Where you’ll see it
- What does maturated mean in general English is usually “became mature.” Merriam-Webster defines maturate as “mature,” with forms maturated and maturating. Dictionary.com likewise lists “to mature,” and Cambridge’s thesaurus groups maturated with ripe, fully grown, fully developed, and mature.
Examples
- The fruits are picked only after they have maturated on the vine.
- Researchers waited until the culture had maturated before sampling.
- Parents sometimes struggle as children are maturating into independent adults.
Examples are written for this site to show typical use. They are not quotes.
In pathology: to form or discharge pus; a less common synonym of suppurate.2
- Tone
- Medical / historical clinical; mark as pathology jargon, not casual English.
- Where you’ll see it
- Maturated meaning in older medical writing often tracks pustules or wounds that did or did not maturate (form mature pustules / pus). Dictionary.com marks this sense as Pathology—“to suppurate”—and notes the British entry lists it as a less common word for suppurate. Prefer the clearer verb “suppurate” in modern clinical prose.
Examples
- A few pustules appeared, but they did not maturate.
- Only two or three of the eruptions maturated.
- The lesion maturated and began to discharge.
Usage notes
- Maturated vs matured: both can mean “became mature”; matured is the everyday past form of mature, while maturated is the past of the less common verb maturate.
- Do not confuse the pathology sense (pus / suppuration) with everyday “grew up” or with the phrase mature love.
- Searches for maturated meaning and what does maturated mean often need the mature-vs-suppurate split above.
Origin
Dictionary.com traces maturate to 1535–45 from Latin mātūrātus, past participle of mātūrāre “to grow ripe, bring to maturity,” related to mature. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use to 1622 in the “mature” sense.21
Related
Sources
- maturate — Merriam-Webster (opens in a new tab)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maturate
- maturate — Dictionary.com (opens in a new tab)
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/maturate
- maturated — Cambridge Thesaurus (opens in a new tab)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/thesaurus/maturated