Etymologically
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meditor

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmɛ.dɪ.tɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɛː.di.tor][1]

Forms

meditor (present infinitive meditārī, perfect active meditātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is probably a verb built on a participle *meditos of medeor, in its older sense “to judge”, so that it meant “to judge constantly, to ponder”.[2][1][3] The OLD and the TLL connect it with modus and compare Oscan meddíss (“magistrate”), Ancient Greek μέδομαι (médomai, “to think of, care for”), Old Irish midiur (“I think, judge”) and Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (mitan, “to measure”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2] whose schemers ask whether they are carrying out the plan “we thought out indoors”.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to think about something constantly, to ponder, as Cicero speaks of always having the forum and the senate on one's mind.[4] It meant to have in mind or intend, as in Cicero's “that you should be thinking of flight or exile”, and to devise or plan words and actions.[4]

Used alone it meant to prepare a speech.[4] It also meant to rehearse or practise, as Plautus' “let us go in and rehearse this”, and of a singer to work at a song, as Virgil's Tityrus “practising a woodland song on a slender pipe”.[4] Medieval Latin used it for meditation and study.[6] It survives as Italian meditare and Spanish and Portuguese meditar, and English meditate is from the 1580s.[1][7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for planning and rehearsing.[4][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for pondering and intending.[4][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for practising a song.[4][8]
  • 1580s – English meditate is first recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To think about, ponder, reflect on.[4][9]
  2. To intend, have in mind.[4][1]
  3. To devise, plan.[4][1]
  4. To prepare (a speech).[4]
  5. To rehearse, practise.[4][1]
  6. To work at (a song).[4]
  7. (Medieval Latin) To meditate.[6]

Word family

  • commeditor
  • ēmeditor
  • immeditātus
  • meditābundus
  • meditamen
  • meditāmentum
  • meditātiō
  • meditatiuus
  • meditator
  • meditatorium
  • meditātus
  • permeditātus
  • meditātiunculā
  • medeor
  • modus
  • English meditate
  • English premeditate

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes cogitare, the ordinary activity of thinking, from meditari, sustained and intense thought aimed at some end.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper