Meditated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of reflecting deeply and thoughtfully enables insight and tranquility
2. Engaging in focused contemplation facilitates mental clarity and emotional peace
3. The process of engaging in deep thought allows for personal insight and emotional balance

Etymology: "Meditated" is the past tense of "meditate," so its story is really the story of the verb. The root sense was practical rather than contemplative: Latin "meditari" meant to think over, consider, plan, or intend, and it was built to look like a frequentative of "medeor," meaning to heal or remedy. That link to healing is a folk-style association of form rather than a shared ancestry, and the Latin verb sits close in both form and sense to the Greek "meletan," meaning to care for, attend to, or practise. English took the word from Latin in the 1500s, first attested in 1560. For its early users, "meditate" meant to plan or intend something, not to sit quietly in reflection. The sense of deep, focused thinking developed from that idea of turning a matter over in the mind, which is why "thought deeply" is the meaning the past tense carries today.

Synonyms: contemplated, reflected, thought, considered, introspected

Antonyms: ignored, disregarded, dismissed