ripen

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to become ripe and ready to eat or harvest

   The peaches ripen in late summer.

2. 2
   verb

   to cause fruit, grain, or another food to become ripe

   Warm days and cool nights ripen the grapes slowly.

3. 3
   verb

   figurative: to develop into a fuller, more mature, or ready state

   Their cautious friendship ripened into trust.

From Middle English ripenen, based on ripe + the verb-forming suffix -en. It inherited both intransitive 'become ripe' and transitive 'make ripe' uses.

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