"maturation" in the noun sense
1. maturation, ripening, maturement
coming to full development becoming mature
2. growth, growing, maturation, development, ontogeny, ontogenesis
biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
"he proposed an indicator of osseous development in children"
3. festering, suppuration, maturation
medicine) the formation of morbific matter in an abscess or a vesicle and the discharge of pus
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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