ripe

Etymology 1

From Middle English ripe, rype, from Old English rīpe (“ripe, mature”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīpī, from Proto-Germanic *rīpijaz, *rīpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- (“to snatch”). Cognate with West Frisian ryp (“ripe”), Dutch rijp (“ripe”), German reif (“ripe”). Related to reap.

adj

1. (of fruits, vegetables, seeds etc.) Ready for reaping or gathering; having attained perfection; mature
   ripe grain
   ripe apples
   Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe. 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3
2. (of foods) Advanced to the state of fitness for use; mellow
   ripe cheese
   ripe wine
3. (figurative) Having attained its full development; mature; perfected
   She was a feature of that piety, but even at the ripe stage of acquaintance in which they occasionally arranged to meet at a concert or to go together to an exhibition she was not a feature of anything else. 1895, Henry James, The Altar of the Dead
   He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one. 1623, William Shakespeare, The Life of King Henry the Eighth
4. (archaic) Maturated or suppurated; ready to discharge (said of sores, tumors, etc.)
5. Ready for action or effect; prepared.
   I am not ripe to pass sentence on the gravest public bodies. 1775, Edmund Burke, Conciliation with America
   nor was the doom / of guilty deed, but of a hapless wight / to sudden madness stung, ere ripe to die, / therefore the Queen of Hades had not shorn / the fair tress from her forehead, nor assigned / that soul to Stygian dark. 1910, Theodore C. Williams, The Aeneid, translation of Aeneis by Virgil, Book IV Chapter 28
   But the time is ripe for changes. There's a growing feeling. That taking a chance on a new kind of vision is due 1988, Queensrÿche, Revolution Calling
6. Like ripened fruit in ruddiness and plumpness.
   He looked back once at the waving hands, the mother's glowing, ripe cheeks. 1981, Daniel Curzon, Human Warmth & Other Stories, page 18
7. (obsolete) Intoxicated.
8. (law) Of a conflict between parties, having developed to a stage where the conflict may be reviewed by a court of law.
   Problems emerge in judging whether a case is ripe, however, when contested general agency directives are issued that are not aimed at specific parties. 2004, Kenneth F. Warren, Administrative Law in the Political System, page 427
9. Smelly: having a disagreeable odor.
   Dolores, giving her a bath yesterday, said she was a bit ripe under the armpits. 2004, Colum McCann, Fishing the Sloe-Black River, page 141

noun

1. (agriculture) A fruit or vegetable which has ripened.
   When he realized that the ripes would not make it back to Selma, Zemurray offered a free bunch of bananas to any telegraph operator who notified local grocers that he was coming through with a shipment of bananas. 1993, Paul J. Dosal, Doing Business with the Dictators, page 76

verb

1. To ripen or mature

Etymology 2

From Middle English ripe, from Latin ripa.

noun

1. The bank of a river.

Etymology 3

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To search; to rummage.

Etymology 4

An alteration of rife.

adj

1. (proscribed, used with with) Rife
   The current state of the tech industry is ripe with danger and poses an existential threat, he believes. 27 November 2022, Edward Helmore, “‘Extinction is on the table’: Jaron Lanier warns of tech’s existential threat to humanity”, in The Guardian