prematurely
/ˌpɹiməˈtʃʊəli/pree-muh-CHUUR-lee
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/ˌpɹiməˈtʃʊɹli/pree-muh-CHUUR-lee
Meaningin a premature way
Common meaning: too early
Tap a word part to explore
- prebefore
- maturripe, timelyLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1120 · scan
- lyadverb ending: in a way
‘before’ + ‘ripe, timely’ → prematurely
Journey through time
- Latinmātūrus, -a, -um‘ripe, timely’
- Englishpremature‘happening too early’
- Englishformed in English from prematureprematurely‘too early’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from premature + -ly.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), PREMATURE, p.464 · scan
Roots
- mātūrus, -a, -um Latin “ripe, timely”
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