Etymologically
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contemplate

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈkɒn.təmˌpleɪt/[1]
  • US: /ˈkɑn.təmˌpleɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin contemplātus (“surveyed, observed”), the past participle of contemplor (“to gaze attentively, observe; consider”), also active contemplō,[2][3][4][5][6] formed from com-, here probably intensive, and templum (“an area marked out by the augurs for taking the auspices”), the source of temple.[2][3][7][8][9] The American Heritage Dictionary connects templum with the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *tem-.[7] Barnhart sees the English verb as probably in part a back-formation from the earlier contemplation,[10] recorded from the 13th century,[11] and the OED compares that noun and the earlier verb contemple.[2] The OED also compares Anglo-Norman contempler, contempler and Italian contemplare.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To look at a person or thing attentively; to observe, gaze at, survey: first recorded before 1533, in Lord Berners's translation of Guevara's Golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius.[2][4] Older dictionaries date the verb later: Barnhart to 1592,[10] Etymonline to the 1590s,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1585–95.[6]

Semantic evolution

According to Ayto, contemplārī first meant to observe omens carefully, the augur's task, but its use soon became more general.[8][12] In English the sense "to think deeply about, ponder" followed in 1538, and the intransitive "to meditate, muse", sometimes on religious matters, in the same year.[2] In post-classical Latin the verb had also meant to live a contemplative life (8th century).[2] Johnson (1755) defined the transitive verb as "to consider with continued attention; to study; to meditate", and the intransitive as "to muse; to think studiously".[13] At the end of the 18th century the meaning moved towards the future: to regard something as possible or likely (1792, Alexander Hamilton) and to have something in mind as an intention or a course of action (1794).[2] Etymonline dates the sense "to intend" to 1816.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1533 – to look at attentively, to gaze at.[2][4]
  • 1538 – to think deeply about, to ponder; intransitive, to meditate.[2]
  • 1581–1745 – intransitive, with on or upon, to gaze (obsolete).[2]
  • 1592 – Barnhart's date.[10]
  • 1785 – to regard as something specified.[2]
  • 1792 – to anticipate as possible or likely.[2]
  • 1794 – to have in mind as an intention.[2]
  • 1816 – to intend, in Etymonline.[3]
  • 1875 – to have reference to, encompass.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To look at something thoughtfully and at length; to gaze at: He stood contemplating the view from the bridge.[14][4][2]
  2. To think about something carefully and at length; to ponder or consider calmly.[14][4][2]
  3. (intransitive) To think deeply, especially for spiritual reasons; to meditate.[14][2][15]
  4. To have in mind as a possibility or an intention: She was contemplating a move abroad.[14][2]
  5. To expect or foresee something as likely.[2]
  6. To regard a person or thing in a particular way or with a particular feeling.[2]

Word family

  • contemplator
  • contemplatingly
  • uncontemplated
  • recontemplate
  • contemplation
  • contemplative
  • temple

Usage notes

The stress has varied: early dictionaries and orthoepists usually put it on the second syllable, and this remained common until the late 19th century, since when the first-syllable stress has prevailed, as in other verbs in -ate.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  15. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press