Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

contemplate

Syllabification: (con·tem·plate)
Pronunciation: /ˈkäntəmˌplāt/

Translate contemplate | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of contemplate

verb

[with object]
  • look thoughtfully for a long time at:he sat on the carpet contemplating his image in the mirrors
  • think about:the results of a trade war are too horrifying to contemplate
  • [no object] think profoundly and at length; meditate:he sat morosely contemplating
  • have in mind as a probable though not certain intention:she was contemplating a gold mining venture

Derivatives

contemplator

Pronunciation: /-ˌplātər/

noun

Origin:

late 16th century: from Latin contemplat- 'surveyed, observed, contemplated', from the verb contemplari, based on templum 'place for observation'

contemplate in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of contemplate in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

kempt

/ kɛm(p)t /
adjective
maintained in a neat and clean condition …