成熟期 (chéng shú qī) — mature period, maturity stage (agriculture, business, personal development)

Definition

成熟期 is the 'mature phase' in a life cycle — used in agriculture (fruit ripening), business (product life cycle), and personal development (adolescence into adulthood).

noun
mature periodmaturity stage (agriculture, business, personal development)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 成熟期。
    Zhè zhǒng shuǐ guǒ zài chéng shú qī shí wèi dào zuì hǎo.
    This fruit tastes best during its mature period.
  • 成熟期，。
    Gōng sī yǐ jīng jìn rù chéng shú qī, shì chǎng jìng zhēng fēi cháng jī liè.
    The company has entered its maturity stage, and market competition is very intense.
  • 成熟期。
    Hái zi de chéng shú qī tōng cháng cóng qīng chūn qī kāi shǐ.
    A child's maturity period usually begins with adolescence.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

成熟mature
成chéngbecome熟shúripe
补充Verb + complement
期qīperiod

成熟 means becoming ripe or mature, and 期 is a period, so it names the maturity stage.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

熟 combines 孰 (cooked; ripe) with 灬 (fire), showing food cooked with fire.

Open 熟 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →

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