ruminate

English

WOTD – 21 November 2006

Etymology

1533, "to turn over in the mind," also "to chew cud" (1547), from Latin rūminātus, past participle of rūmināre (“to chew the cud, turn over in the mind”), from rūmen (“the throat, gullet”), of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹumɪneɪt/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Verb

ruminate (third-person singular simple present ruminates, present participle ruminating, simple past and past participle ruminated)

1. (intransitive) To chew cud. (Said of ruminants.) Involves regurgitating partially digested food from the rumen.

   A camel will ruminate just as a cow will.

2. (intransitive) To meditate or reflect.

   I didn't answer right away because I needed to ruminate first.

   • 2020 April 8, David Clough, “How the West Coast wiring war was won”, in Rail, page 59:

     Meanwhile, the MoT had itself also been ruminating on options for the northern half of the route.

3. (transitive) To meditate or ponder over; to muse on.
   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iii]:

     What I know / Is ruminated, plotted, and set down.

   • 1697, “Cinyras and Myrrha”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:

     Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin.

Conjugation

conjugation of ruminate

infinitive				ruminate
present participle				ruminating
past participle				ruminated
	simple			progressive			perfect			perfect progressive
present	I ruminate	we ruminate		I am ruminating	we are ruminating		I have ruminated	we have ruminated		I have been ruminating	we have been ruminating
	you ruminate	you ruminate		you are ruminating	you are ruminating		you have ruminated	you have ruminated		you have been ruminating	you have been ruminating
	he ruminates	they ruminate		he is ruminating	they are ruminating		he has ruminated	they have ruminated		he has been ruminating	they have been ruminating
past	I ruminated	we ruminated		I was ruminating	we were ruminating		I had ruminated	we had ruminated		I had been ruminating	we had been ruminating
	you ruminated	you ruminated		you were ruminating	you were ruminating		you had ruminated	you had ruminated		you had been ruminating	you had been ruminating
	he ruminated	they ruminated		he was ruminating	they were ruminating		he had ruminated	they had ruminated		he had been ruminating	they had been ruminating
future	I will ruminate	we will ruminate		I will be ruminating	we will be ruminating		I will have ruminated	we will have ruminated		I will have been ruminating	we will have been ruminating
	you will ruminate	you will ruminate		you will be ruminating	you will be ruminating		you will have ruminated	you will have ruminated		you will have been ruminating	you will have been ruminating
	he will ruminate	they will ruminate		he will be ruminating	they will be ruminating		he will have ruminated	they will have ruminated		he will have been ruminating	they will have been ruminating
conditional	I would ruminate	we would ruminate		I would be ruminating	we would be ruminating		I would have ruminated	we would have ruminated		I would have been ruminating	we would have been ruminating
	you would ruminate	you would ruminate		you would be ruminating	you would be ruminating		you would have ruminated	you would have ruminated		you would have been ruminating	you would have been ruminating
	he would ruminate	they would ruminate		he would be ruminating	they would be ruminating		he would have ruminated	they would have ruminated		he would have been ruminating	they would have been ruminating
imperative	ruminate

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ponder
• Or Thesaurus:think

Derived terms

• ruminator

Related terms

• rumen
• ruminant
• rumination

Translations

to chew cud

• Arabic: اجْتَرَّ‎ (ijtarra)

  Moroccan Arabic: جر‎ (jarr)

• Armenian: որոճալ (hy) (oročal)
• Aromanian: aroamig
• Assamese: পাগুলা (pagula)
• Bulgarian: преживям, предъвквам (preživjam, predǎvkvam)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 反芻, 反刍 (faan² co¹)

  Hakka: 倒草 (to-chó)

  Mandarin: 反芻 (zh), 反刍 (zh) (fǎnchú)

  Min Nan: 翻草 (huan-chháu)

• Czech: přežvykovat
• Danish: drøvtygge, tygge drøv
• Dutch: herkauwen (nl)
• Faroese: jótra
• Finnish: märehtiä (fi)
• French: ruminer (fr)
• German: wiederkäuen (de)

  Alemannic German: beibe

• Greek: μηρυκάζω (el) (mirykázo)
• Hungarian: kérődzik (hu)
• Icelandic: jórtra
• Italian: ruminare (it)
• Latin: rūmīnō
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tygge drøv, drøvtygge

  Nynorsk: jorte, ørte

• Persian: ژاویدن‎ (žāvidan)
• Portuguese: ruminar (pt), rumiar (pt)
• Quechua: kutipakuy
• Romanian: rumega (ro)
• Russian: жева́ть жвачку (ževátʹ žvačku)
• Scottish Gaelic: cnuasaich, ath-chagainn
• Spanish: rumiar (es)
• Swedish: idissla (sv)
• Tashelhit: ⴼⴰⵥⵥ (faẓẓ)
• Telugu: నెమరువేయు (te) (nemaruvēyu)
• Walloon: roemyî (wa)

to meditate

• Armenian: խորհրդածել (hy) (xorhrdacel)
• Czech: přemítat (cs)
• Finnish: märehtiä (fi)
• French: ruminer (fr)
• German: grübeln (de)
• Greek: σκέφτομαι (el) (skéftomai)
• Hungarian: rágódik (hu), mereng (hu), elmélkedik (hu)

• Maori: whakaraupeka
• Norwegian: tygge på
• Portuguese: ruminar (pt), remoer (pt)
• Romanian: rumega (ro) (o idee)
• Scottish Gaelic: cnuasaich
• Spanish: rumiar (es) (colloquial)

Adjective

ruminate (not comparable)

1. (botany) Having a hard albumen penetrated by irregular channels filled with softer matter, as the nutmeg and the seeds of the North American papaw.

   a ruminate endosperm

See also

• chew the cud

Further reading

• ruminate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ruminate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• ruminate at OneLook Dictionary Search

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Italian

Verb

ruminate

1. second-person plural present indicative of ruminare
2. second-person plural imperative of ruminare
3. feminine plural of ruminato

Anagrams

• minutare, numerati

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Latin

Participle

rūmināte

1. vocative masculine singular of rūminātus