contemplate
Syllables: con·tem·plateUK/ˈkɒn.təmˌpleɪt//ˈkɑn.təmˌpleɪt/
contemplate verb: to look at on all sides or in all its aspects; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study, ponder, or consider.
Verb
contemplate (third-person singular simple present contemplates, present participle contemplating, simple past and past participle contemplated)
- To look at on all sides or in all its aspects; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study, ponder, or consider.
- To love, at least contemplate and admire, / What I see excellent.1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 1
- We thus dilate / Our spirits to the size of that they contemplate.1818, Lord Byron, “Canto IV”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Fourth, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza CLVIII
- Synonyms:
- examine
- To consider as a possibility.
- I contemplated doing the project myself, but it would have taken too long.
- There remain some particulars to complete the information contemplated by those resolutions.1793 February 18, Alexander Hamilton, Loans, speech given to the United States House of Representatives
contemplate meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
contemplate in Hindi
- think about something in a concentrated manner
- चिंतन cintan, मनन manan
contemplate in Tamil
- சிந்தி, ஆழ்ந்து நினை, செய்யத் திட்டமிடு, கருத்தில் கொள்
contemplate in Urdu
- contemplate
- ارادہ کرنا irādah karnā
contemplate in Bengali
- চিন্তা করা
More languagesFewer languages
- contemplate in Malayalam
- ധ്യാനിക്കുക, ഒരു സംഭവം സാധ്യമായി കരുതുക, കാണുക, ചിന്തിക്കുക
- contemplate in Kannada
- ಉನ್ನು, ಆಳವಾಗಿ ನೆನೆ, ಆಲೋಚಿಸು, ಧ್ಯಾನಿಸು
- contemplate in Persian
- تفکر کردن
- contemplate in Vietnamese
- nghĩ
Examples of contemplate in a sentence
- If a treaty contains any stipulations which contemplate a state of future war.1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law:
- The merest whisper of an idea to change Bombay to the Calcutta system brought such a howl of protest in the Press, that it was never seriously contemplated.1953 November, 'Erca', “Ticket Frauds in the East”, in Railway Magazine, page 779:
- University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
Synonyms of contemplate
Forms of contemplate
| third-person singular present | contemplates |
|---|---|
| present participle | contemplating |
| past participle | contemplated |
| past | contemplated |
Origin of contemplate
First attested in the 1590s; borrowed from Latin contemplātus, the perfect active participle of contemplor (“to observe, survey, gaze (at), contemplate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). See also template.
Words formed from contemplate
Questions about contemplate
- What does contemplate mean?
- Contemplate means to look at on all sides or in all its aspects; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study, ponder, or consider.
- What is contemplate in Hindi?
- Contemplate in Hindi is चिंतन (cintan), मनन (manan). See Contemplate meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use contemplate in a sentence?
- If a treaty contains any stipulations which contemplate a state of future war.
- What part of speech is contemplate?
- Contemplate is a verb.
- How do you pronounce contemplate?
- Contemplate is pronounced /ˈkɑn.təmˌpleɪt/ (US).
- What is the past tense of contemplate?
- The past tense of contemplate is contemplated.
Words near contemplate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: contemplate (page history and authors); contemplate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ارادہ کرنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); contemplate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); contemplate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); contemplate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-contemplate.ogg.
Cite this entry: “contemplate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/contemplate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.