Contemplate Meaning
/ˈkɑn.təmˌpleɪt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo look at on all sides or in all its aspects; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study, ponder, or consider.
verbTo consider as a possibility.
Sentence Examples
When I contemplate the sea, I feel calm.
You are the star I contemplate.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She needed a quiet weekend to ____ the big decision about her career.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
When I ____ the sea, I feel calm.
Word Origin & History
First attested in the 1590s; borrowed from Latin contemplātus, the perfect active participle of contemplor (“to observe, survey, gaze (at), contemplate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). See also template.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"To love, at least contemplate and admire, / What I see excellent."
— 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 1:
"We thus dilate / Our spirits to the size of that they contemplate."
— 1818, Lord Byron, “Canto IV”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Fourth, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza CLVIII:
"If a treaty contains any stipulations which contemplate a state of future war."
— 1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law:
"In Calcutta, season tickets are issued only for the calendar month, with a different colour for each month, so that this problem does not arise. The merest whisper of an idea to change Bombay to the Calcutta system brought such a howl of protest in the Press, that it was never seriously contemplated."
— 1953 November, 'Erca', “Ticket Frauds in the East”, in Railway Magazine, page 779:
"Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete."
— 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She needed a quiet weekend to ____ the big decision about her career.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
When I ____ the sea, I feel calm.