Meditation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/

Definitions

1. A practice of focused mental exercise to achieve calmness, awareness, or spiritual insight
2. A practice involving focused contemplation designed to induce inner peace, enhance mental clarity, and facilitate self-exploration
3. A disciplined technique of contemplative focus aimed at fostering tranquility, improving cognitive clarity, and promoting self-awareness

Etymology: The noun carries a surprisingly physical idea underneath its modern calm. Its Latin source, "meditatio," came from the verb "meditari," meaning to think over, consider, or ponder, and that verb is rooted in an ancient idea of measuring. The Proto-Indo-European root "*med-" meant to measure, limit, or weigh up, so thinking carefully was originally a kind of mental measuring. The noun passed into English through Old French "meditacion," which is how the Latin concept of deliberate, careful thought arrived in the language. For centuries the word kept that sense of serious reflection, often on religious or moral matters, rather than the quiet emptying of the mind that the word now usually suggests. The modern meaning of focused mental calm is a much later narrowing, drawn from the older idea of dwelling steadily on a single thought. The root shows that the word has always been about holding a thought in place, and only its emphasis has shifted from weighing ideas to settling the mind.

Synonyms: contemplation, reflection, thought

Antonyms: distraction, chaos