Ripen Meaning
/ˈɹaɪpən/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbto grow ripe; to become mature (said of grain, fruit, flowers etc.)
verbTo approach or come to perfection.
Sentence Examples
She watched the gardens grow, and she watched the apples turn red and ripen.
We hope that the jabuticabas ripen soon.
Yanni picked the figs just as they started to ripen.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmer waited for the tomatoes to ____ on the vine before picking them.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The bananas were left on the counter to ____ naturally over the next few days.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] 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."
— 1918, John Muir, chapter XII, in Steep Trails:
"The acquaintance soon ripened into a warm attachment."
— 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 7:
"When Faith and Love which parted from thee never
Had ripen'd thy just soul to dwell with God"
— 1673, John Milton, When Faith and Love which parted from thee never:
"But the decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatneſs. Proſperity ripened the principle of decay; the cauſes of deſtruction multiplied with the extent of conqueſt; and as ſoon as time or accident had removed the artificial ſupports, the ſtupendous fabric yielded to the preſſure of its own weight. The ſtory of its ruin is ſimple and obvious; and instead of enquiring why the Roman empire was deſtroyed, we ſhould rather be ſurprised that it had ſubſiſted ſo long."
— 1781, Edward Gibbon, “General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume III, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 631:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmer waited for the tomatoes to ____ on the vine before picking them.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The bananas were left on the counter to ____ naturally over the next few days.