ruminate
UK /ˈɹuːmɪnət/ · US /ˈɹumənət/ verb, adjective
Forms ruminates ruminating ruminated ruminatest ruminatedst ruminateth
- verb (intransitive) To chew cud. (Said of ruminants.) Involves regurgitating partially digested food from the rumen. “A camel will ruminate just as a cow will.”
- verb (intransitive) To meditate or reflect. “I didn't answer right away because I needed to ruminate first.”
- verb (transitive) To meditate or ponder over; to muse on.
- adjective (botany) Having a hard albumen penetrated by irregular channels filled with softer matter, as the nutmeg and the seeds of the North American papaw. “a ruminate endosperm”
Synonyms
Or Thesaurus:think chew over think over meditate ponder excogitate contemplate muse reflect mull mull over speculate
Etymology
First attested in 1533; borrowed from Latin rūminātus, perfect active participle of rūminor (“to chew the cud, turn over in the mind”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from rūmen (“the throat, gullet”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), itself of uncertain origin.
First attested in 1800, in the writings of John Hull; borrowed from Latin rūminātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To chew the cud; to chew again what has been slightly chewed and swallowed. "Cattle free to ruminate." Wordsworth.
- verb Fig.: To think again and again; to muse; to meditate; to ponder; to reflect. Cowper.
- verb To chew over again.
- verb Fig.: To meditate or ponder over; to muse on. Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin. Dryden.
Etymology [L. ruminatus, p.p. of ruminari, ruminare, fr. rumen, -inis, throat, akin to ructare to belch, erugere to belch out, Gr. roccettan.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ruminate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details