ponder

English

Etymology

From Middle English ponderen, from Old French ponderer (“to weigh, balance, ponder”) from Latin ponderare (“to weigh, ponder”), from pondus (“weight”), from pendere (“to weigh”); see pendent and pound.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒn.də(ɹ)/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑn.dɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɒndə(ɹ)

Verb

ponder (third-person singular simple present ponders, present participle pondering, simple past and past participle pondered)

To wonder, think of deeply.
To consider (something) carefully and thoroughly.
Synonyms: chew over, mull over; see also Thesaurus:ponder
I have spent days pondering the meaning of life.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Proverbs 4:26:
  Ponder the path of thy feet.
(obsolete) To weigh.

Related terms

ponderment
pondersome
preponder
preponderance
preponderant
preponderate

Translations

to think deeply

Armenian: մտորել (hy) (mtorel)
Bulgarian: размишлявам (bg) (razmišljavam)
Catalan: ponderar (ca)
Cherokee: ᎠᏓᏅᏖᏗ (adanvtedi)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 思考 (zh) (sīkǎo), 琢磨 (zh) (zuómo), 沈思 (zh), 沉思 (zh) (chénsī)
Chuukese: ekipwichi
Czech: přemýšlet (cs) impf
Dutch: overwegen (nl), overpeinzen (nl)
Finnish: pohtia (fi)
French: songer (fr), réfléchir (fr)
Galician: ponderar (gl), parar mentes
German: grübeln (de)
Hebrew: הרהר‎ (he) (hirhér)
Hungarian: mereng (hu), elmereng (hu), tűnődik (hu), eltűnődik (hu), elmélkedik (hu), mérlegel (hu)
Icelandic: íhuga
Ido: ponderar (io), meditar (io), reflektar (io), konsiderar (io)
Italian: ponderare (it)
Kazakh: толғану (tolğanu)
Korean: 숙고하다 (sukgohada)
Latin: dēlīberō, meditor, pensitō
Malay: merenungi
Maori: taute, whakaaroaro
Occitan: pensar (oc), perpensar
Polish: dumać (pl), rozważać (pl), rozmyślać (pl) impf, namyślać się (pl) impf
Portuguese: ponderar (pt)
Russian: размышля́ть (ru) impf (razmyšljátʹ), размы́слить (ru) pf (razmýslitʹ)
Sanskrit: मन्यते (sa) (manyate)
Scottish Gaelic: meòraich, cnuasaich
Slovene: razmišljati impf, razmisliti pf
Spanish: considerar (es), meditar (es), cavilar (es), discurrir (es)
Swedish: fundera (sv), begrunda (sv), grunna (sv)
Tamil: யோசி (ta) (yōci)
Turkish: düşünüp taşınmak (tr)

to consider carefully

Armenian: մտորել (hy) (mtorel)
Bulgarian: обмислям (bg) (obmisljam)
Catalan: ponderar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 思考 (zh) (sīkǎo), 考慮／考虑 (zh) (kǎolǜ)
Dutch: overdenken (nl)
Finnish: pohtia (fi)
French: s'interroger (fr)
Galician: ponderar (gl), parar mentes
German: überlegen (de), nachdenken (de)
Hungarian: latolgat (hu), fontolgat (hu), mérlegel (hu), fontolóra vesz (hu)
Icelandic: íhuga
Italian: ponderare (it)
Latin: expendō (la), meditor, aspicio (la)
Maori: taute, hurihuri
Portuguese: ponderar (pt)
Russian: обду́мывать (ru) impf (obdúmyvatʹ), обду́мать (ru) pf (obdúmatʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: meòraich, cnuasaich
Spanish: ponderar (es)
Swedish: fundera (sv), grubbla (sv), grunna (sv)

Noun

ponder (plural ponders)

(colloquial) A period of deep thought.
I lit my pipe and had a ponder about it, but reached no definite conclusion.

Anagrams

Penrod, podner, proned