ruminate
/ˈɹumɪneɪt//ˈɹuːmɪnət/
ruminate verb: to chew cud. (Said of ruminants.) Involves regurgitating partially digested food from the rumen.
Verb
ruminate (third-person singular simple present ruminates, present participle ruminating, simple past and past participle ruminated)
- To chew cud. (Said of ruminants.) Involves regurgitating partially digested food from the rumen.
- A camel will ruminate just as a cow will.
- There is surely some point beyond which the acquisition of other men’s thoughts must not be carried. This we say for the sake of those helluones librorum, who read forever and without stint; browsing as diligently as oxen in the green herbage of rich meads, but, unlike these, never lying down to...1861, James W[addell] Alexander, “Remarks on the Studies and Discipline of the Preacher”, in S. D. A[lexander], editor, Thoughts on Preaching: Being Contributions to Homiletics, New York, N.Y....
- To meditate or reflect.
- I didn't answer right away because I needed to ruminate first.
- Yet do thou cherish thy Partner, whilst her innocent Eyes are gazing on the Green Garment, that covereth the Surface of her Illapidable Virginity, ruminating upon the Departure of her nearest and dearest Friend [...] In that Day, thee wilt see with the Eye of Flesh; but if thee pursues it farther...1744, James Carson, Jemmy Carson’s collections: being a revival of his own labours and lucubrations, for thirty years past; with pieces upon different subjects, by several hands, Dublin
- To meditate or ponder over; to muse on.
- What I know / Is ruminated, plotted, and set down.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin.1697, Virgil, “Cinyras and Myrrha”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
Adjective
ruminate (not comparable)
ruminate meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Telugu and Malayalam
ruminate in Tamil
- அசைபோடு, அசைபோடல், இரைமீட்டல்
ruminate in Urdu
- جگالی کرنا, سوچ بچار کرنا
ruminate in Telugu
- to chew cud
- నెమరువేయు nemaruvēyu
ruminate in Malayalam
- അയവിറക്കുക, ധ്യാനിക്കുക, വീണ്ടും വീണ്ടും ചവയ്ക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- ruminate in Kannada
- ಚಿಂತನ ಮಾಡು, ಮನನ ಮಾಡು, ಪರ್ಯಾಲೋಚಿಸು, ಮೆಲುಕು ಹಾಕು
- ruminate in Assamese
- পাগুলা pagula
- ruminate in Arabic
- اجْتَرَّ ijtarra
- ruminate in Persian
- ژاویدن žâvidan
Forms of ruminate
| third-person singular present | ruminates |
|---|---|
| present participle | ruminating |
| past participle | ruminated |
| past | ruminated |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | ruminatest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | ruminatedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | ruminateth |
Origin of ruminate
First attested in 1533; borrowed from Latin rūminātus, perfect active participle of rūminor (“to chew the cud, turn over in the mind”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from rūmen (“the throat, gullet”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), itself of uncertain origin.
First attested in 1800, in the writings of John Hull; borrowed from Latin rūminātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Words formed from ruminate
Questions about ruminate
- What does ruminate mean?
- Ruminate means to chew cud. (Said of ruminants.) Involves regurgitating partially digested food from the rumen.
- What is ruminate in Tamil?
- Ruminate in Tamil is அசைபோடு, அசைபோடல், இரைமீட்டல். See Ruminate meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is ruminate?
- Ruminate can be a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce ruminate?
- Ruminate is pronounced /ˈɹumɪneɪt/.
- What is the past tense of ruminate?
- The past tense of ruminate is ruminated.
Words near ruminate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ruminate (page history and authors); ruminate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ruminate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ruminate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ruminate (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ruminate.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ruminate.wav, en-au-ruminate.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ruminate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ruminate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.