prematurationn.adj.
/ˌpriːmatʃᵿˈreɪʃn/, /ˌpriːmatjᵿˈreɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌprimætʃəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ A. n.
1. Unusually early maturation. Also: a process of maturation (in part or in some respect) which takes place before the ordinary or final stage of maturation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > [noun] > (untimely) earliness > making or becoming mature early
prematuration1905
1905 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 16 147 We have a totally different sort of thing which could perhaps better be denominated ‘prematuration’, a state that results always from outside interference.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 3 Feb. 2/1 The systems followed in the schools of the leading civilised races of the world make for prematuration.
1938 R. B. Goldschmidt Physiol. Genetics ii. 207 Morgan..claimed a prematuration effect to explain irregularities in the inheritance of the gene [named] rudimentary.
1979 Diacritics 9 56 It focuses on the decisive effect of a distinctive temporal structure in sexual development, a proleptic or metaleptic structure marked by prematuration and deferral.
2003 Theriogenology 59 1568 It can be assumed that this double wave [of maturation] may reflect the presence of two oocyte populations with two different degrees of ‘prematuration’.
2. Prematurity at birth. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun] > childbirth or delivery > complications of childbirth or pregnancy
amblosis1706
breech case1774
breech1781
still-birth1785
breech presentation1811
footling1829
turning1842
prematurity1847
head-locking1870
breech position1876
headlock1876
breech delivery1882
breech labour1885
miss1897
postmaturity1902
abruptio placentae1905
preemie1927
breech baby1969
prematuration1977
1977 A. Sheridan tr. J. Lacan Écrits iv. 137 This is a point that I think I have myself helped to elucidate by conceiving the dynamics of the so-called mirror stage as a consequence of a prematuration at birth [Fr. prématuration de la naissance].
B. adj. Biology.
Occurring before maturation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [adjective] > growth > maturation or mature
perfecta1387
full-growna1393
mature1801
fully-grown1810
developmental1830
prematuration1914
1914 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 1 31 Possibly many [‘altered’ egg cells or pollen grains] were formed as the result of a prematuration mutation.
1929 R. A. Wardle Probl. Appl. Entomol. xi. 249 The degree of pre-maturation mortality caused by weather, climate, enemies, and disease.
1974 Austral. Jrnl. Agric. Res. 25 883 Only in one cultivar..could a difference in rate of development between samples be attributed with any confidence to pre-maturation cold acquisition.
2000 Ecology 81 2592/2 Factors responsible for differentiating male and female life histories during the juvenile (free-living, prematuration) stage of development.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1905