Contemplating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Thinking about something carefully and at length, often with focus on its meaning or consequences
2. Engaging in deep or serious consideration of a subject or idea
3. Reflecting thoughtfully on an issue or possibility before making a decision

Etymology: The Latin "templum" once named a marked-out space for observation, not a building. Roman augurs used it to describe the patch of sky they divided into zones before reading the flight of birds. From that field of view came "contemplor," meaning to observe, survey, or gaze at something, and the sense of looking across a defined area is still present in the English verb "contemplate," which entered the language in the 1590s, borrowed from the Latin past participle "contemplatus." The "-ate" ending is simply the common verb-forming suffix carried over from Latin, so the verb itself has no hidden layers beyond that inherited pattern. What the word did was move steadily from physical looking toward mental looking: first gazing at something with the eyes, then studying it closely, and finally turning the attention inward to weigh ideas. "Contemplating" is the present participle of that verb, so it carries the same sense of sustained, deliberate attention that the Roman observers brought to the sky.

Synonyms: considering, pondering, reflecting, musing, thinking

Antonyms: disregarding, ignoring, neglecting, overlooking, dismissive