ripen

Definition

to grow ripe; to become mature (said of grain, fruit, flowers etc.)

Etymology

From Middle English *ripenen, extended form of ripen, from Old English rīpian. In the modern form, equivalent to ripe + -en (inchoative and factitive suffix). As in several other verbs, the alteration seems to have occurred during the time when the infinitive and plural ending -en was in the process of being lost (and was thus open to reinterpretation). The earliest attestation is deverbal Middle English ripening (“causing ripeness, ripening”).

Example Sentences

• "Grapes ripen in the sun."
• "[…] the desert soil of the Great Basin is as rich in the elements that in rainy regions rise and ripen into food as that of any other State in the Union."
• "The acquaintance soon ripened into a warm attachment."