Why is it die Reife?

Reife ends in -e, and most nouns ending in -e are feminine: in a German dictionary, 79% of them take die.

All nouns ending in -e
Sense 1
die

Meaning

[1] Completion of a physical or mental growth process

[1] Vollendung eines physischen oder geistigen Wachstumsprozesses

[2] School graduation

[2] Schulabschluss

[3] Sexual maturity, sexual maturity

[3] Geschlechtsreife, sexuelle Reife

Examples

[1] The maturity of an pineapple can be recognized by the smell

[1] Die Reife einer Ananas erkennt man am Geruch.

[1] The boy still lacks the moral ripening

[1] Dem Knaben fehlt noch die sittliche Reife.
More source examples (2)

These dictionary examples can include historical and less common uses.

[2] "Do you have medium ripening"

[2] „Haben Sie Mittlere Reife?“

[3] The ripeness sets an earlier and earlier

[3] Die Reife setzt immer früher ein.

Declension

1 Singular Plural
Nominativ die Reife —
Genitiv der Reife —
Dativ der Reife —
Akkusativ die Reife —

Pronunciation

Dictionary entries include material from Wiktionary. Wiktionary