ripen
/ˈɹaɪpən/
ripen verb: of grain, fruit, flowers, etc., to grow ripe; to become mature.
Verb
ripen (third-person singular simple present ripens, present participle ripening, simple past and past participle ripened)
- Of grain, fruit, flowers, etc., to grow ripe; to become mature.
- Grapes ripen in the sun.
- […] the desert soil of the Great Basin is as rich in the elements that in rainy regions rise and ripen into food as that of any other State in the Union.1918, John Muir, chapter XII, in Steep Trails
- To approach or come to perfection.
- The acquaintance soon ripened into a warm attachment.1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 7
- To cause (something) to mature; to make ripe.
- The warm sun ripened the corn.
- To mature; to fit or prepare; to bring to perfection.
- ripen the judgment
- When Faith and Love which parted from thee never
Had ripen'd thy just soul to dwell with God1673, John Milton, When Faith and Love which parted from thee never
ripen meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
ripen in Hindi
- to ripen
- पकाना pakānā
- to ripen; to mature
- पकना paknā
ripen in Tamil
- to grow ripe
- பழு paḻu
ripen in Marathi
- to ripen
- पिकणे pikṇe
ripen in Urdu
- to ripen
- پکنا paknā, پکانا pakānā
More languagesFewer languages
- ripen in Bengali
- পাকা paka
- ripen in Telugu
- పండించు paṇḍiñcu
- ripen in Malayalam
- പഴുക്കുക paḻukkuka, മൂക്കുക mūkkuka, പൂക്കുക pūkkuka, കനിയുക kaniyuka
- ripen in Kannada
- ಪಂಣು paṇṇu
- ripen in Punjabi
- ਪੱਕਣਾ pakkaṇā
- ripen in Gujarati
- પાકવું pākvũ
- ripen in Sanskrit
- पचति pácati
- ripen in Nepali
- पाक्नु pāknu
- ripen in Arabic
- يَنَعَ yanaʕa, نَضَجَ naḍaja
- ripen in Thai
- บ่ม bòm
Examples of ripen in a sentence
- The fruit ripened on the trees.
- Also, you can plant crops that ripen earlier in the season to avoid feeding green fruit beetles.
- The bruise on my cheek had ripened into an underlying violet with an alienish green tinge.
Forms of ripen
| third-person singular present | ripens |
|---|---|
| present participle | ripening |
| past participle | ripened |
| past | ripened |
Origin of ripen
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”).
Words formed from ripen
Questions about ripen
- What does ripen mean?
- Ripen means of grain, fruit, flowers, etc., to grow ripe; to become mature.
- What is ripen in Hindi?
- Ripen in Hindi is पकाना (pakānā), पकना (paknā). See Ripen meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is ripen?
- Ripen is a verb.
- How do you pronounce ripen?
- Ripen is pronounced /ˈɹaɪpən/.
- What is the past tense of ripen?
- The past tense of ripen is ripened.
Words near ripen in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ripen (page history and authors); पकना (Hindi) (page history and authors); पिकणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); پکانا (Urdu) (page history and authors); পাকা (Bengali) (page history and authors); കനിയുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಪಂಣು (Kannada) (page history and authors); પાકવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); पचति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); पाक्नु (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “ripen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ripen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.