cogitate

C3O1G2I1T1A1T1E1
UK/ˈkəʊdʒɪteɪt/UK/ˈkɒdʒɪteɪt/US/ˈkoʊd͡ʒɪteɪt/US/ˈkɑd͡ʒɪteɪt/

verb

To meditate, to ponder, to think deeply.

RareScrabble 11

Meanings

verbcogitate (third-person singular simple present cogitates, present participle cogitating, simple past and past participle cogitated)

present singular third person cogitates · participle present cogitating · participle past cogitated · past cogitated

  1. intransitiveTo meditate, to ponder, to think deeply.

    Think, ladies! Cogitate! Sharpen up the edges of your wit.

    1953, Robert Wright, George Forrest, Kismet
    2 more examples

    He that calleth a thing into his mind, whether by impression or recordation, cogitateth and considereth, and he that employeth the faculty of his fancy also cogitateth.

    1605, Francis Bacon, “(please specify |book=1 or 2)”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC

    As a theoretical physicist, Dirac didn’t need a lab to do his work; all he needed was a pencil, because his most finely calibrated instrument was his mind’s eye. When he was young, a teacher told him that she felt he was cogitating not in words but in “another medium of forms and figures.” He once described his own thoughts as essentially “geometrical.”

    2015, Steve Silberman, chapter 1, in Megan Newman, editor, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, New York: Avery, →ISBN, page 37
  2. transitiveTo consider, to devise.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbuse or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latincōgitātus
  2. Englishcogitate

First attested in 1570; borrowed from Latin cōgitātus, perfect passive participle of cōgitō (“to think”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian размислям, размишлявам
  • размислям (razmisljam)to meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
  • размишлявам (razmišljavam)to meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
  • разглеждам (razgleždam)to consider, to devise
  • обмислям (obmisljam)to consider, to devise
Finnish harkita, miettiä
  • harkitato meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
  • miettiäto meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
  • harkitato consider, to devise
Norwegian fundere
  • fundereto meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
Portuguese cogitar
  • cogitarto meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
Russian обду́мывать, размышля́ть
  • обду́мывать (obdúmyvatʹ)to meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
  • размышля́ть (razmyšljátʹ)to meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
Spanish cogitar
  • cogitarto meditate, to ponder, to think deeply
Tagalog isaisip
  • isaisipto meditate, to ponder, to think deeply

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with cogitate

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

cogitate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cogitate

MLA

“cogitate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cogitate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cogitate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cogitate.

Source: cogitate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.