maturity
Americannoun
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the state of being mature; ripeness.
The fruit will reach maturity in a few days.
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full development; perfected condition.
maturity of judgment; to bring a plan to maturity.
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Finance.
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the state of being due.
There is always the danger that if you have to sell your home before maturity of your mortgage, you won't net enough cash from the sale to repay the loan in full.
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The loan has reached its maturity and must be paid back in full.
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Usually maturities bonds and other investments having a fixed term.
Some investors prefer short-term maturities to avoid tying up their money for a long period.
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noun
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the state or quality of being mature; full development
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finance
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the date upon which a bill of exchange, bond, note, etc, becomes due for repayment
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the state of a bill, note, etc, when due
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Usage
What does maturity mean? Maturity is the state of having reached a stage of full or advanced development. Maturity is a noun form of mature, which is commonly used as an adjective generally meaning fully developed (as a verb, mature generally means to fully develop). If a person shows or has maturity, they are mature, meaning they act grown-up. When an animal has reached maturity, it has reached adulthood. When a fruit has reached maturity, it’s ripe. Maturity is also used in the context of finance to refer to the state of something being due for repayment, such as a bond. Example: Some of my students show maturity, but the rest of them act like preschoolers.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of maturity
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English maturite, from Middle French maturite or directly from Latin mātūritāt-, stem of mātūritās “ripeness, full development”; see mature, -ity
Explanation
When something reaches its full level of development, it has achieved maturity. Easy enough when you're a perfectly ripe peach. Maturity in humans is not so easy to accomplish or achieve. Some people might be physically mature, which is to say that they are fully physically grown, but don't yet exhibit signs of emotional maturity — such as a willingness to accept responsibility, or maintain poise in serious situations — for a long time afterward.
Vocabulary lists containing maturity
"High School Football"
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Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 2
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 18
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Treasury prices, which move in the opposite direction to yields, get more sensitive to risks as maturity lengthens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
“My Neighbor Totoro” is a gateway into a pastoral ideal that still exists in living memory, reviving parts of our imagination that maturity has stifled into dormancy.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
When the animals consumed a low-fiber diet, the tapeworms were several times smaller, never reached sexual maturity, and failed to produce eggs.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
You know, it sounds funny to say that with 250 years that we’re looking for maturity, but I’m looking for maturity and leadership.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
We substituted good grammar for intellect; we switched habits to simulate maturity; we rearranged lies and called it truth, seeing in the new pattern of an old idea the Revelation and the Word.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
Muni bonds with maturities of 10 years or less offer little appeal now due to historically low yield ratios of top-rated munis relative to Treasuries.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
In that scenario, investors who took on some interest-rate risk by buying longer term maturities would be seeing gains in addition to having locked in higher yields for longer, Ivascyn says.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Treasury yields rose slightly across maturities in Asian trade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
That should lift bond yields across all maturities, and unlike the three negative explanations I started with, fits with record-high stock prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
The crack football players, however, have many maturities.
From Scottish Football Reminiscences and Sketches by Bone, David Drummond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
