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): /ˈɹuməneɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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.

3. (transitive) To meditate or ponder over; to muse on.
   • Shakespeare

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

   • Dryden

     Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:ponder
• Or Wikisaurus:think

Derived terms

• ruminator

Related terms

• rumen
• ruminant
• rumination

Translations

to chew cud

• Arabic:

  Moroccan Arabic: جرّ‏‎ (jarr)

• Armenian: որոճալ (hy) (oročal)
• Aromanian: aroamig
• 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)

• Greek: μηρυκάζω (el) (mirykázo), αναχαράζω (el) (anacharázo)
• Hungarian: kérődzik (hu)
• Icelandic: jórtra
• Italian: ruminare (it)
• Latin: ruminare
• Norwegian: drøvtygge, tygge drøv
• Persian: ژاویدن‏‎ (žāvidan)
• Portuguese: ruminar (pt), rumiar
• Quechua: kutipakuy
• Romanian: rumega (ro)
• Russian: жева́ть жвачку (ževátʹ žvačku)
• Scottish Gaelic: cnuasaich, ath-chagainn
• Spanish: rumiar (es)
• Swedish: idisla
• 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), καλοσκέφτομαι (kaloskéftomai), στοχάζομαι (el) (stocházomai), συλλογίζομαι (el) (syllogízomai)
• 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, The Century Co., New York, 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

• numerati

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Latin

Participle

rūmināte

1. vocative masculine singular of rūminātus