different between weak vs mature

English

Etymology

From Middle English weyk, wayk, weik, waik, from Old Norse veikr (“weak”), from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz (“weak, yielded, pliant, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, wind”). Cognate with Old English w?c (“weak, bendsome”), Saterland Frisian wook (“soft, gentle, tender”), West Frisian weak (“soft”), Dutch week (“soft, weak”), German weich (“weak, soft”), Norwegian veik (“weak”), Swedish vek (“weak, pliant”), Icelandic veikur (“bendsome, weak”). Related to Old English w?can (“to yield”). Doublet of week and wick. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?k, IPA^(key): /wi?k/
• Rhymes: -i?k
• Homophone: week

Adjective

weak (comparative weaker, superlative weakest)

1. Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability.
   • weak with hunger, mad with love

2. Unable to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain.

3. Unable to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable.
   • 1703, Nicholas Rowe, The Fair Penitent Act I, scene I:

     Guard thy heart / On this weak side, where most our nature fails.

4. Dilute, lacking in taste or potency.

5. (grammar) Displaying a particular kind of inflection, including:
   1. (Germanic languages, of verbs) Regular in inflection, lacking vowel changes and having a past tense with -d- or -t-.
   2. (Germanic languages, of nouns) Showing less distinct grammatical endings.
   3. (Germanic languages, of adjectives) Definite in meaning, often used with a definite article or similar word.
6. (chemistry) That does not ionize completely into anions and cations in a solution.

7. (physics) One of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay.
8. (slang) Bad or uncool.

9. (mathematics, logic) Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.)
10. Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.
11. Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained.
12. Lacking in vigour or expression.

13. Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble.
14. (stock exchange) Tending towards lower prices.

15. (photography) Lacking contrast.

Synonyms

• (lacking in force or ability): feeble, frail, powerless, vincible, assailable, vulnerable
• (lacking in taste or potency): dilute, watery
• See also Thesaurus:weak

Antonyms

• (lacking in force or ability): healthy, powerful, robust, strong, invincible
• (lacking in taste or potency): potent, robust, strong
• (chemistry: that does not ionize completely): strong

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Wake, wake, weka

West Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v???k/

Adjective

weak

1. (Clay) soft

Inflection

Alternative forms

• wêk (Wood)

Further reading

• “weak (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m??tj??/, /m??t???/, /m??t???/
• (US) IPA^(key): /m??t??(?)?/, /m??t??/, /m??t(j)???/
• Rhymes: -??(?), -??(?), -??(?)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French mature, from Latin m?t?rus. Doublet of maduro. Partially displaced ripe, from Old English r?pe (“ripe, mature”).

Adjective

mature (comparative maturer or more mature, superlative maturest or most mature)

1. Fully developed; grown up in terms of physical appearance, behaviour or thinking; ripe.

2. Brought to a state of complete readiness.

3. Profound; careful.

4. (medicine, obsolete) Come to, or in a state of, completed suppuration.
5. (television, film) Suitable for adults only, due to sexual themes, violence, etc.

Synonyms

• (grown up in terms of physical appearance): adult, grown; see also Thesaurus:full-grown
• (grown up in terms of behaviour or thinking): adultish, grown up; see also Thesaurus:mature
• (suitable for adults only): adult; see also Thesaurus:for adults

Antonyms

• (grown up): childish, immature
• (profound): superficial

Derived terms

• maturation
• maturely
• matureness
• maturity
• sexually mature

Translations

Etymology 2

From French maturer (“to mature”), from Latin m?t?r?.

Verb

mature (third-person singular simple present matures, present participle maturing, simple past and past participle matured)

1. (intransitive) To proceed toward maturity: full development or completion (either of concrete or of abstract things, e.g. plans, judgments, qualities).

   Synonyms: develop, grow, progress, ripen

2. (intransitive, of food, especially fruit) To attain maturity, to become mature or ripe.

   Synonyms: ripen, ripen up

3. (transitive) To bring (something) to maturity, full development, or completion.
4. (transitive) To make (something, e.g. fruit) ripe or mature.

   Synonym: ripen

5. (intransitive, of a person) To proceed toward or become mature or full-grown, either physically or psychologically; to gain experience or wisdom with age.

   Synonyms: age, develop, grow up; see also Thesaurus:to age

6. (transitive) To make (someone) mature.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:make older

7. (intransitive, finance) To reach the date when payment is due.

Synonyms

• maturate

Derived terms

• maturable
• mature up

Translations

Anagrams

• tamure

French

Etymology

From Middle French mature, borrowed from Latin m?t?rus. Doublet of mûr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ty?/
• Homophones: maturent, matures

Adjective

mature (plural matures)

1. (of a person) mature

Verb

mature

1. first-person singular present indicative of maturer
2. third-person singular present indicative of maturer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of maturer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of maturer
5. second-person singular imperative of maturer

Further reading

• “mature” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ure

Adjective

mature f pl

1. feminine plural of maturo

Anagrams

• murate
• mutare
• muterà

Latin

Adjective

m?t?re

1. vocative masculine singular of m?t?rus

References

• mature in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• mature in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• mature in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Middle English

Noun

mature

1. Alternative form of matere

Portuguese

Verb

mature

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of maturar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of maturar
3. third-person singular imperative of maturar