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): /ˈruməneɪt/

• 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

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
• 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
• 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)

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

Related terms

• rumen
• ruminant
• rumination

Derived terms

• ruminator

See also

• chew the cud

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

External links

• 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