ripen, v.
(ˈraɪp(ə)n)
Also 6 rypen.
[f. ripe a. + -en5. Cf. ripe v.1]
1. intr. To grow ripe; to come to maturity: a. Of fruits, seeds, etc.
| 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apocalipse (1573) 95 But the figges ripened not, and therefore they remayned greene or vnripe figges. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 61 Holesome Berryes thriue and ripen best, Neighbour'd by Fruit of baser qualitie. 1611 Bible Isaiah xviii. 5 When the bud is perfect, and the sowre grape is ripening in the flowre. 1652 Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Wars Flanders 170 By destroying the corn upon the ground, which was then a ripening. 1712 M. Henry Serm. Wks. 1853 II. 366/2 The choicest fruits ripen slowly. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 608 Calyx awned, the angles more evident as the seeds ripen. 1833 Tennyson Lotos-Eaters 81 All its allotted length of days, The flower ripens in its place. 1894 H. Drummond Ascent Man 382 The dormouse thus brings forth its young in August, when the nuts begin to ripen. |
| fig. 1742 Young Nt. Th. i. 142 What golden joys ambrosial clust'ring glow In His full beam, and ripen for the just? |
b. Of persons, faculties, conditions, etc.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. ii, His mature age..ripens onely to corrupt and rot The budding hope of infant modestie. 1777 Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. iv. 47 The faculty of thinking in general ripens..with the body. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser i. Henry Harris, It was not till our acquaintance had ripened..that these particulars were elicited. 1878 J. P. Hopps Jesus iii. 12 The time had come, when all that he had..thought, and desired, had ripened in his soul. |
c. fig. To develop
into (or
towards) something.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 103 Pom. This is not yet an Alexandrian Feast. Ant. It ripen's towards it. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. i. 47 These Bills ripened into Acts, before the Parliament ended. 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad Introd. p. xxiv, The mathematical genius of Don Henry..received every encouragement..to ripen into perfection and public utility. 1833 H. Martineau Fr. Wines & Pol. i. 1 The acquaintance had ripened into friendship. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xxix, He tried to laugh away his own fears. And yet they ripened..into certainty. 1885 Law Times LXXIX. 211/1 The risk had not ripened into a debt. |
2. Med. To come to a head; to maturate.
| 1704 F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1718) 51 A Cancerous Humour is some years ripening. 1709 Floyer Cold Bathing I. iv. 138 Cold Water hinders any Pain from ripening. 1722 De Foe Plague (Rtldg.) 209 The violent Motion..caused them [swellings] to ripen and break. |
3. Of natural products, etc.: To reach the proper condition or stage for being utilized. Also
fig.| 1756–82 J. Warton Ess. Pope I. ii. 78 In some minds the ore is a long time in ripening. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. iv. 380 No useless mine these northern hills enclose, No ruby ripens and no diamond glows. 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Receipts Ser. ii. 335/2 It is then poured out in the form of flat cakes..and is left in that condition for many days to ‘ripen’. a 1890 Sci. Amer. LIV. 40 (Cent.), After ripening, the cream is churned. |
b. Of land: To become sufficiently valuable to let or sell for building on.
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 11 Feb. 1/2 We see landlords..holding land on the fringe of towns until it ‘ripens’, as the phrase goes, to the value which secures them an immense profit on their outlay. |
4. trans. To make ripe; to bring to maturity or to the proper condition for being used.
| 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Maturo, The yere quickly ripeneth grapes in sunnie hilles. 1587 Golding De Mornay iv. (1592) 44 The Sunne..rypeneth things, he withereth things and so foorth. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. i. 8 The pleached bower, Where hony-suckles ripened by the sunne, Forbid the sunne to enter. 1647 Trapp Comm. Luke v. 39 Age clarifies wine, and ripens it. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. iii, For them alone the heavens had kindly heat, In eastern quarries ripening precious dew. 1725 Pope Odyss. xi. 556 The blooming boy is ripen'd into man. 1759 Miller Gard. Dict. (ed. 7) s.v. Abutilon, With proper care they will ripen their seeds in autumn. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 667 In a frame of this kind, Knight ripened grapes. 1880 Spons' Encycl. Manuf. ii. 640 They are worked by shallow pits, and are ‘ripened’, ground, and washed, as the other clays. 1894 Field 9 June 844/3 They have learned the reason why the cream is ripened, and how it is ripened. |
5. To develop to a mature state or condition; to bring to perfection.
| 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 1124 Being now further ripened in the knowledge of Gods word. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. i. i. 227 Whose Vertues will, I hope, Reflect on Rome..And ripen Iustice in this Common-weale. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone ii. iii, I have something else To ripen for your good. 1648 Boyle Seraph. Love xx. (1700) 125 When Age and study shall have ripened and instructed his Intellectuals. 1721 Young Revenge iii. i, This conduct ripen'd all for me, and ruin. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxviii. (1787) III. 631 Prosperity ripened the principle of decay. 1821 Lamb Elia i. My Relations, His amelioration-plans must be ripened in a day. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Religion, The action of the university..ripens a Bishop, and extrudes a philosopher. |
b. Const.
into.
| a 1721 Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) I. 15 Love ripens all that dross into the purest gold. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. 64 Ripening into execution my plots upon themselves. |
6. Med. To bring to a head. (
Cf. ripe v.
1 3.)
| 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physic 95/1 A potione to mature, or ripen, an Apostematione. c 1600 Markham in Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1607) 361 Then renew it, till such time that it ripen and break the sore. a 1617 Bayne On Eph. (1643) 140 Physitians by ripning diseases make way to heal them. 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) I. 290 A Poultis to ripen any Tumour. 1753 [see ripening ppl. a. 1]. |