Contemplate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈkɑn.təmˌpleɪt/

Definitions

1. To think deeply and carefully about something over a period of time, often while considering various aspects or possibilities
2. To gaze thoughtfully at something while reflecting on its meaning or considering a course of action
3. To examine a subject mentally with sustained attention, weighing its implications and possibilities in one's mind

Etymology: The verb "contemplate" was first recorded in the 1590s, and its ancestry runs back to a Latin word for looking at something carefully, often across a wide open space. The Latin "contemplor" meant to observe, survey, or gaze at, and its root was "templum," a term in Roman religious practice for a marked-out section of sky used by augurs to read omens. Before the abstract sense of mental reflection took hold, the idea was physical: fixing your eyes on something and taking it in. English borrowed the word directly from Latin, adding the verb-forming suffix "-ate," which appears in many verbs taken from Latin past participles. The shift from sight to thought happened gradually in Latin and English alike, so that gazing at a view came to mean dwelling on an idea. Today the sense of looking remains mostly in the background, while the word's core meaning is the deliberate act of turning something over in the mind.

Synonyms: ponder, consider, reflect, think, deliberate

Antonyms: ignore, dismiss, overlook, neglect, disregard