Meanings
present singular third person meditates · participle present meditating · participle past meditated · past meditated
- intransitiveTo contemplate; to keep the mind fixed upon something; to study.
- intransitiveTo sit or lie down and come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious.
- transitiveTo consider; to reflect on.
He lay and meditated the sluggishness of his bowels. This created pictures of chrome and porcelain and attendant circumstances.
1956, William Golding, Pincher Martin1 more example
[…] yet I can by no means be persuaded that he could find leisure enough to write so many copies of it in his solitudes and sufferings, in the midst of treaties, in the hurry of removals, while he meditated his escape, and was strictly observ'd by his guards.
1761, John Toland, The Life Of Iohn^([sic]) Milton
- not comparableobsoleteMeditated.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbreflect deeply on a subject
verbthink intently and at length, as for spiritual purposes
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinmeditātus
- Englishmeditate
First attested in 1560; borrowed from Latin meditātus, perfect active participle of meditor (“to think or reflect upon, consider, design, purpose, intend”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), morphologically as if frequentative of medeor (“to heal, to cure, to remedy”); in sense and in form near to Ancient Greek μελετάω (meletáō, “to care for, attend to, study, practise, etc.”). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μελετάω
- μελετάω (meletáō)to contemplate
Bulgarian размишлявам, обмислям
- размишлявам (razmišljavam)to contemplate
- обмислям (obmisljam)to contemplate
- медитирам (meditiram)to come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Catalan meditar, meditar
- meditarto contemplate
- meditarto come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Chinese Mandarin 沉思, 冥想
- 沉思 (chénsī)to contemplate
- 冥想 (míngxiǎng)to contemplate
Czech meditovat, meditovat
- meditovatto contemplate
- meditovatto come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Dutch mediteren
- mediterento come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Esperanto mediti
- meditito contemplate
Finnish mietiskellä, meditoida
- mietiskelläto contemplate
- meditoidato come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
French méditer
- méditerto contemplate
Greek διαλογίζομαι
- διαλογίζομαι (dialogízomai)to contemplate
Hindi मनन करना, ध्यान देना
- मनन करना (manan karnā)to contemplate
- ध्यान देना (dhyān denā)to contemplate
- आराम करना (ārām karnā)to come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Irish meabhraigh
- meabhraighto contemplate
Italian meditare, filosofare
- meditareto contemplate
- filosofareto contemplate
- meditareto come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
- riflettereto come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Japanese 瞑想する
- 瞑想するto contemplate
Korean 숙고하다
- 숙고하다 (sukgohada)to contemplate
Persian تعمق کردن, اندیشه کردن
- تعمق کردنto contemplate
- اندیشه کردنto contemplate
Polish medytować
- medytowaćto contemplate
Portuguese meditar
- meditarto come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Romanian medita
- meditato contemplate
Russian медитировать
- медитировать (meditirovatʹ)to contemplate
Scottish Gaelic meòraich, cnuasaich
- meòraichto contemplate
- cnuasaichto contemplate
Spanish meditar, meditar
- meditarto contemplate
- meditarto come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Swedish meditera
- mediterato come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Thai ทำสมาธิ, เข้าฌาน
- ทำสมาธิ (tam-sà-maa-tí)to contemplate
- เข้าฌาน (kâo-chaan)to contemplate
Turkish meditasyon yapmak
- meditasyon yapmakto contemplate
Ukrainian розду́мувати, медитува́ти
- розду́мувати (rozdúmuvaty)to contemplate
- медитува́ти (medytuváty)to come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
meditate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meditate
“meditate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meditate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meditate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meditate.
Source: meditate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.