Meanings
ponder1
present singular third person ponders · participle present pondering · participle past pondered · past pondered
- To consider (something) carefully and thoroughly.
I have spent days pondering the meaning of life.
2 more examples
Ponder the path of thy feet.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 4:26[A]lthough thou beeſt blameleſs and unſpotted as to thy outvvard Life and Converſation, ſo that none can ſay, black is thine Eye, as to any groſs Sin; yet knovv, that God pondereth thy Heart, and ranſacketh every Corner of thy Soul, and obſerves the Motions of thoſe very Luſts that vvar vvithin thee, and prevail againſt thee.
a. 1709 (date delivered), William Beveridge, “Sermon LXXXV. Repentance, a Certain, and the Only Method of Obtaining Pardon.”, in The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Dr. William Beveridge, Late Lord Bishop of St. Asaph. […], volume II, London: […] William Taylor, […], published 1720, →OCLC, page 69 - obsoleteTo weigh.
plural ponders
- colloquialA period of deep thought.
I lit my pipe and had a ponder about it, but reached no definite conclusion.
Ponder2
plural Ponders
- countableuncountableA surname.
- countableuncountableA ghost town in Ripley County, Missouri, United States.
- countableuncountableA town in Denton County, Texas, United States.
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
verbreflect deeply on a subject
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinponderāre“to weigh, ponder”
- Old Frenchponderer“to weigh, balance, ponder”
- Middle Englishponderen
- Englishponder
From Middle English ponderen, from Old French ponderer (“to weigh, balance, ponder”) from Latin ponderāre (“to weigh, ponder”), from pondus (“weight”), from pendere (“to weigh”); see pendent and pound.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَفَكَّرَ, فَكَّرَ
- تَفَكَّرَ (tafakkara)to think deeply
- فَكَّرَ (fakkara)to think deeply
Bulgarian размишля́вам, разми́слям
- размишля́вам (razmišljávam)to think deeply
- разми́слям (razmísljam)to think deeply
- разми́сля (razmíslja)to think deeply
- обми́слям (obmísljam)to consider carefully
- обми́сля (obmíslja)to consider carefully
Catalan ponderar, ponderar
- ponderarto think deeply
- ponderarto consider carefully
Chinese Mandarin 思考, 琢磨
- 思考 (sīkǎo)to think deeply
- 琢磨 (zuómo)to think deeply
- 沈思 (chénsī)to think deeply
- 沉思 (chénsī)to think deeply
- 思考 (sīkǎo)to consider carefully
- 考慮 /考虑 (kǎolǜ)to consider carefully
Czech přemýšlet
- přemýšletto think deeply
Danish gruble, fundere
- grubleto think deeply
- fundereto think deeply
- tænke efterto consider carefully
Dutch overwegen, overpeinzen
- overwegento think deeply
- overpeinzento think deeply
- overdenkento consider carefully
Esperanto pensi, pripensi
- pensito think deeply
- pripensito consider carefully
Finnish pohtia, pohtia
- pohtiato think deeply
- pohtiato consider carefully
French songer, réfléchir
- songerto think deeply
- réfléchirto think deeply
- s'interrogerto consider carefully
German grübeln, überlegen
- grübelnto think deeply
- überlegento consider carefully
- nachdenkento consider carefully
Hebrew הִרְהֵר
- הִרְהֵר (hirhér)to think deeply
Hindi सोचना, चिंतन करना
- सोचना (socnā)to think deeply
- चिंतन करना (cintan karnā)to think deeply
- मंथन करना (manthan karnā)to think deeply
- विचारना (vicārnā)to consider carefully
- चिंतन करना (cintan karnā)to consider carefully
Hungarian mereng, elmereng
- merengto think deeply
- elmerengto think deeply
- tűnődikto think deeply
- eltűnődikto think deeply
- elmélkedikto think deeply
- mérlegelto think deeply
- latolgatto consider carefully
- fontolgatto consider carefully
- mérlegelto consider carefully
- fontolóra veszto consider carefully
Icelandic íhuga, íhuga
- íhugato think deeply
- íhugato consider carefully
Italian ponderare, ponderare
- ponderareto think deeply
- ponderareto consider carefully
Japanese 熟考する
- 熟考する (jukkō suru)to think deeply
Korean 숙고하다
- 숙고하다 (sukgohada)to think deeply
Latin dēlīberō, meditor
- dēlīberōto think deeply
- meditorto think deeply
- pensitōto think deeply
- expendōto consider carefully
- meditorto consider carefully
- aspicioto consider carefully
Malay merenungi
- merenungito think deeply
Māori taute, whakaaroaro
- tauteto think deeply
- whakaaroaroto think deeply
- tauteto consider carefully
- hurihurito consider carefully
Polish dumać, rozważać
- dumaćto think deeply
- rozważaćto think deeply
- rozważyćto think deeply
- rozmyślaćto think deeply
- namyślać sięto think deeply
- namyślić sięto think deeply
- zastanawiać sięto consider carefully
- zastanowić sięto consider carefully
Portuguese ponderar, ponderar
- ponderarto think deeply
- ponderarto consider carefully
Russian размышля́ть, размы́слить
- размышля́ть (razmyšljátʹ)to think deeply
- размы́слить (razmýslitʹ)to think deeply
- заду́мываться (zadúmyvatʹsja)to think deeply
- заду́маться (zadúmatʹsja)to think deeply
- ду́мать (dúmatʹ)to think deeply
- поду́мать (podúmatʹ)to think deeply
- обду́мывать (obdúmyvatʹ)to consider carefully
- обду́мать (obdúmatʹ)to consider carefully
Scottish Gaelic meòraich, cnuasaich
- meòraichto think deeply
- cnuasaichto think deeply
- meòraichto consider carefully
- cnuasaichto consider carefully
Slovak premýšľať
- premýšľaťto think deeply
Spanish considerar, meditar
- considerarto think deeply
- meditarto think deeply
- cavilarto think deeply
- discurrirto think deeply
- ponderarto consider carefully
- sopesarto consider carefully
Swedish fundera, begrunda
- funderato think deeply
- begrundato think deeply
- grunnato think deeply
- funderato consider carefully
- grubblato consider carefully
- grunnato consider carefully
Tamil யோசி
- யோசி (yōci)to think deeply
Turkish düşünüp taşınmak
- düşünüp taşınmakto think deeply
Ukrainian розмірко́вувати, розміркува́ти
- розмірко́вувати (rozmirkóvuvaty)to think deeply
- розміркува́ти (rozmirkuváty)to think deeply
- ду́мати (dúmaty)to think deeply
- поду́мати (podúmaty)to think deeply
- обду́мувати (obdúmuvaty)to consider carefully
- обду́мати (obdúmaty)to consider carefully
- обмірко́вувати (obmirkóvuvaty)to consider carefully
- обміркува́ти (obmirkuváty)to consider carefully
Urdu سوچْنا
- سوچْنا (socnā)to think deeply
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ponder
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
ponder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ponder
“ponder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ponder. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ponder,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ponder.
Source: ponder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.