| mature | 1. Brought by natural process to completeness of growth and development; fitted by growth and development for any function, action, or state, appropriate to its kind; full-grown; ripe. "Now is love mature in ear." (Tennison) "How shall I meet, or how accost, the sage, Unskilled in speech, nor yet mature of age ?" (Pope) 2. Completely worked out; fully digested or prepared; ready for action; made ready for destined application or use; perfected; as, a mature plan. "This lies glowing, . . . And is almost mature for the violent breaking out." (Shak) 3. Of or pertaining to a condition of full development; as, a man of mature years. 4. Come to, or in a state of, completed suppuration. Synonym: Ripe, perfect, completed, prepared, digested, ready. Mature, Ripe. Both words describe fullness of growth. Mature brings to view the progressiveness of the process; ripe indicates the result. We speak of a thing as mature when thinking of the successive stayes through which it has passed; as ripe, when our attention is directed merely to its state. A mature judgment; mature consideration; ripe fruit; a ripe scholar. Origin: L. Maturus; prob. Akin to E. Matin. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| mature bacteriophage | The complete, infective form of bacteriophage. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mature cataract | A cataract in which both the nucleus and cortex are opaque. Synonym: complete cataract, ripe cataract. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mature cell leukaemia | Chronic granulocytic leukaemia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mature neutrophil | A fully matured neutrophil that has at least 2 (and as many as 5) distinct lobes in the nucleus and manifests active ameboid motion. Synonym: mature neutrophil. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mature ovarian follicle | A follicle ready for ovulation; in the human ovary its antrum attains a diameter of 6 to 8 mm and presents a surface bulge; a first maturation (meiotic) division of the ovum usually occurs just prior to the rupture of the follicle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bayley Scales of Infant Development | A psychological test used to measure the developmental progress of infants over the first two and one-half years of life; consists of three scales: mental, motor, and behaviour record. (05 Mar 2000) |
| rate, infant mortality | The number of children dying under a year of age divided by the number of live births that year. The infant mortality rate in the united states, which was 12.5 per 1,000 live births in 1980, fell to 9.2 per 1,000 live births in 1990. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Cattell Infant Intelligence Scale | A standardised scale for assessment of the cognitive development of infants between the ages of 3 and 30 months. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mortality rate, infant | The number of children dying under a year of age divided by the number of live births that year. The infant mortality rate in the united states, which was 12.5 per 1,000 live births in 1980, fell to 9.2 per 1,000 live births in 1990. (12 Dec 1998) |
| postmature infant | A baby born 1 week (7 days) or more after the usual 9 months (280 days) of gestation. (12 Dec 1998) |
| post-term infant | A baby born 2 weeks (14 days) or more after the usual 9 months (280 days) of gestation, as calculated from the last menstrual period (lmp). This is an important calculation, since, if delivery is delayed 3 weeks beyond term, the infant mortality rate skyrockets to 3 times normal. (12 Dec 1998) |
| preterm infant | An infant with gestational age of less than 37 completed weeks (259 completed days). (05 Mar 2000) |
| stillborn infant | An infant who shows no evidence of life after birth. Compare: liveborn infant. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sudden infant death | The abrupt and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant under one year of age, remaining unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history. (expert panel of the national institute of child health and human development in paediatric pathology, v.11, no.5, sept-oct 1991, p681) (12 Dec 1998) |