contemplate
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Attested since the 1590s; borrowed from Latin contemplātus, from contemplari (“observe, survey”).
PronunciationEdit
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɑn.təmˌpleɪt/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒn.təmˌpleɪt/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: con‧tem‧plate
VerbEdit
contemplate (third-person singular simple present contemplates, present participle contemplating, simple past and past participle contemplated)
- To look at on all sides or in all its aspects; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study, ponder, or consider.
- 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, page 1:
- To love, at least contemplate and admire, / What I see excellent.
- 1818, Lord Byron, “Canto IV”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Fourth, London: John Murray, […], OCLC 1015248873, stanza CLVIII:
- We thus dilate / Our spirits to the size of that they contemplate.
- To consider as a possibility.
- 1793 February 18, Alexander Hamilton, Loans, speech given to the United States House of Representatives:
- There remain some particulars to complete the information contemplated by those resolutions.
- 1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law
- If a treaty contains any stipulations which contemplate a state of future war.
- 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
- Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
- I contemplated doing the project myself, but it would have taken too long.
- 1793 February 18, Alexander Hamilton, Loans, speech given to the United States House of Representatives:
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:ponder
- (look at): examine
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
think about something in a concentrated manner
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ReferencesEdit
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “contemplate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
ItalianEdit
Etymology 1Edit
VerbEdit
contemplate
- inflection of contemplare:
Etymology 2Edit
ParticipleEdit
contemplate f pl
AnagramsEdit
LatinEdit
ParticipleEdit
contemplāte