deliberate

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Latin dēlīberātus (“resolved upon, determined”),^[2][3][4] the past participle of dēlīberō (“to weigh well, consider carefully, consult”);^[3][5] the verb, from the 1530s, is from the stem of the same participle.^[2][6] The Latin verb is formed with dē-, here probably meaning "entirely",^[3][5] from lībrō (“to balance, weigh”), altered probably under the influence of līberō (“to free”),^[3][5][7][8] and that verb is from lībra (“scales, balance”).^[4][9] Barnhart calls the origin of the Latin noun uncertain.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, acting after careful thought; measured: ?a1425, in an English translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery.^[2] Barnhart dates the adjective to probably before 1425.^[5]

Semantic evolution

As the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins notes, the adjective is medieval and the verb, pronounced slightly differently, came in the mid 16th century.^[10] The adjective soon applied to actions as well as people, meaning carefully considered (?1527), and later especially done on purpose, as of a lie or an insult.^[2] A Scottish sense "resolved, determined" lasted from 1515 to 1626, and the meaning "slow and steady, unhurried" appears in 1575 in a book on falconry.^[2] Johnson (1755) still defined it as "circumspect, wary" and "slow; not sudden".^[11] The verb was used first of councils that weighed and discussed a proposal (1536), and soon of a single person thinking something over (1538).^[2] Etymonline dates the meaning "weigh in the mind" to the 1540s and "discuss the reasons for and against" to the 1550s.^[3]

Timeline

• ?a1425 – adjective, of a person: acting after careful thought.^[2]
• ?1527 – of an action: carefully considered.^[2]
• 1536 – verb: of a council, to consider and discuss.^[2]
• 1538 – verb: to think carefully, to ponder.^[2]
• 1575 – adjective: slow and steady.^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson: circumspect, wary; slow, not sudden.^[11]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Done on purpose; intentional.
2. Carefully thought out; not hasty or rash.
3. Careful and unhurried in speech or movement.

Verb

1. To think about something carefully before deciding.
2. Of a group, to discuss a matter before reaching a decision: The committee deliberated for two days.

Word family

• deliberately
• deliberateness
• deliberator
• indeliberate
• nondeliberate
• overdeliberate
• predeliberate
• undeliberate

Related words

• deliberation
• deliberative
• libra
• equilibrium
• liberate

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
10. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.