ponder

English

Etymology

From Middle English ponderen, from Old French ponderer (“to weigh, balance, ponder”) from Latin ponderare (“to weigh, ponder”), from pondus (“weight”), from pendere (“to weigh”); see pendent and pound.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒn.də(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑn.dɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒndə(ɹ)

Verb

ponder (third-person singular simple present ponders, present participle pondering, simple past and past participle pondered)

1. to wonder, think of deeply
2. to consider (something) carefully and thoroughly; to chew over, mull over

   I have spent days pondering the meaning of life.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Proverbs 4:26:

     Ponder the path of thy feet.

3. (obsolete) to weigh

Synonyms

• chew over
• mull over
• See also Thesaurus:ponder

Related terms

• ponderment
• preponder
• preponderance
• preponderant
• preponderate

 

Translations

to think deeply

• Armenian: մտորել (hy) (mtorel)
• Catalan: ponderar (ca)
• Cherokee: ᎠᏓᏅᏖᏗ (adanvtedi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 思考 (zh) (sīkǎo), 琢磨 (zh) (zuómo), 沉思 (zh) (chénsī)

• Chuukese: ekipwichi
• Czech: přemýšlet (cs) impf
• Dutch: overwegen (nl), overpeinzen (nl)
• Finnish: pohtia (fi)
• French: songer (fr), réfléchir (fr)
• Galician: ponderar (gl)
• German: grübeln (de)
• Hebrew: הרהר‎ (he) (hirhér)
• Hungarian: mereng (hu), elmereng (hu), tűnődik (hu), eltűnődik (hu), elmélkedik (hu), mérlegel (hu)
• Icelandic: íhuga

• Ido: ponderar (io), meditar (io), reflektar (io), konsiderar (io)
• Italian: ponderare (it)
• Korean: 숙고하다 (sukgohada)
• Latin: dēlīberō, meditor, pensitō
• Malay: merenungi
• Maori: taute, whakaaroaro
• Occitan: pensar (oc), perpensar
• Polish: dumać (pl), rozważać (pl), rozmyślać (pl) impf, namyślać się (pl) impf
• Portuguese: ponderar (pt)
• Russian: размышля́ть (ru) impf (razmyšljátʹ), размы́слить (ru) pf (razmýslitʹ)
• Sanskrit: मन्यते (sa) (manyate)
• Scottish Gaelic: meòraich, cnuasaich
• Slovene: razmišljati impf, razmisliti pf
• Spanish: considerar (es), meditar (es), cavilar (es), discurrir (es)
• Swedish: fundera (sv), begrunda (sv)

to consider carefully

• Armenian: մտորել (hy) (mtorel)
• Catalan: ponderar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 思考 (zh) (sīkǎo), 考慮 (zh), 考虑 (zh) (kǎolǜ)

• Dutch: overdenken (nl)
• Finnish: pohtia (fi)
• French: s'interroger (fr)
• Galician: ponderar (gl)
• German: überlegen (de), nachdenken (de)
• Hungarian: latolgat (hu), fontolgat (hu), mérlegel (hu), fontolóra vesz (hu)

• Icelandic: íhuga
• Italian: ponderare (it)
• Latin: expendō (la), meditor, aspicio (la)
• Maori: taute, hurihuri
• Portuguese: ponderar (pt)
• Russian: обду́мывать (ru) impf (obdúmyvatʹ), обду́мать (ru) pf (obdúmatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: meòraich, cnuasaich
• Spanish: ponderar (es)
• Swedish: fundera (sv), grubbla (sv)

Noun

ponder (plural ponders)

1. (colloquial) A period of deep thought.

   I lit my pipe and had a ponder about it, but reached no definite conclusion.

Further reading

• ponder in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ponder in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.

Anagrams

• Penrod