Link Centre Dictionary

ripen

ri·pen

UK/ˈɹaɪpən/ US/ˈraɪpʌn/ rare

verb

1.

cause to ripen or develop fully

  • “The sun ripens the fruit”
  • “Age matures a good wine”
Synonyms
2.

grow ripe

  • “The plums ripen in July”

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • ripen up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.