Considerations

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kənˌsɪdəˈɹeɪʃənz/

Definitions

1. Factors evaluated prior to reaching a decision
2. Aspects that are carefully analyzed to inform choices
3. Elements taken into account before making a choice

Etymology: "Considerations" is the plural of "consideration", and the noun has a more physical origin than its modern sense suggests. Its Latin ancestor, "consideratio", is built on "considerare", which is usually linked to "sidus" (star), so the original image is of looking closely at the heavens. Such an image is hard to recover from the word today, where it means a factor weighed before a decision. The noun reached English in Middle English as "consideracioun", borrowed through Old French "consideracion" from Latin "consideratio". Over time its meaning moved from the act of careful thought toward the things that thought takes into account, which is how the plural came to mean the factors themselves. Its English form, "consider" plus the suffix "-ation", is a straightforward combination of a verb and a noun-forming ending.

Synonyms: deliberations, thoughts, reflections