Etymology

pensive

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Today it means: Engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought. Full definition →

Middle English pensif ← Old French pensif ← Latin pēnsō
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompēnsō
  2. Old French · derived frompensif“thoughtful”
  3. Middle English · inherited frompensif
  4. English todaypensive

From Middle English pensif, pensyfe, pencyve, from Old French pensif (“thoughtful”), from penser (“to think”) (from Latin pēnsō) + -if (English -ive).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.