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)

1. To wonder, think of deeply.
2. 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, Proverbs 4:26:

     Ponder the path of thy feet.

3. (obsolete) To weigh.

Synonyms

• cogitate
• deliberate

Related terms

• ponderment
• pondersome
• preponder
• preponderance
• preponderant
• preponderate

Translations

to think deeply — see also think about

Arabic: تَفَكَّرَ (tafakkara), فَكَّرَ (ar) (fakkara) Armenian: մտորել (hy) (mtorel) Belarusian: разважа́ць impf (razvažácʹ), разва́жыць pf (razvážycʹ), ду́маць impf (dúmacʹ), паду́маць pf (padúmacʹ) Bulgarian: размишля́вам (bg) impf (razmišljávam), разми́слям (bg) impf (razmísljam), разми́сля (bg) pf (razmíslja) Catalan: ponderar (ca) Cherokee: ᎠᏓᏅᏖᏗ (adanvtedi) Chinese: Mandarin: 思考 (zh) (sīkǎo), 琢磨 (zh) (zuómo), 沈思 (zh) (chénsī), 沉思 (zh) (chénsī) Chuukese: ekipwichi Czech: přemýšlet (cs) impf Danish: gruble, fundere Dutch: overwegen (nl), overpeinzen (nl) Esperanto: pensi (eo) Finnish: pohtia (fi) French: songer (fr), réfléchir (fr) Galician: ponderar (gl), parar mentes German: grübeln (de) Hebrew: הִרְהֵר (he) (hirhér) Hindi: सोचना (hi) (socnā) 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) Japanese: 熟考する (ja) (じゅっこうする, jukkō suru) Kazakh: толғану (tolğanu) Khiamniungan Naga: thólū Korean: 숙고하다 (sukgohada) Latin: dēlīberō, meditor, pensitō Macedonian: размислува impf (razmisluva), размисли pf (razmisli) Malay: merenungi (ms) Maori: taute, whakaaroaro Occitan: pensar (oc), perpensar (oc) Persian: Iranian Persian: اَنْدیشیدَن (andišidan), فِکْر کَرْدَن (fekr kardan) Polish: dumać (pl) impf, rozważać (pl) impf, rozważyć (pl) pf, rozmyślać (pl) impf, namyślać się impf, namyślić się pf Portuguese: ponderar (pt) Russian: размышля́ть (ru) impf (razmyšljátʹ), размы́слить (ru) pf (razmýslitʹ), заду́мываться (ru) pf (zadúmyvatʹsja), заду́маться (ru) pf (zadúmatʹsja), ду́мать (ru) impf (dúmatʹ), поду́мать (ru) pf (podúmatʹ) Sanskrit: मन्यते (sa) (manyate) Scottish Gaelic: meòraich, cnuasaich Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: разми́шљати impf, ра̀змислити pf Roman: razmíšljati (sh) impf, ràzmisliti (sh) pf Slovak: premýšľať impf 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) Ukrainian: розмірко́вувати impf (rozmirkóvuvaty), розміркува́ти pf (rozmirkuváty), ду́мати (uk) impf (dúmaty), поду́мати pf (podúmaty) Urdu: سوچْنا (socnā)

to consider carefully — see also analyze

Armenian: մտորել (hy) (mtorel) Belarusian: абмярко́ўваць impf (abmjarkóŭvacʹ), абмеркава́ць pf (abmjerkavácʹ), абду́мваць impf (abdúmvacʹ), абду́маць pf (abdúmacʹ) Bulgarian: обми́слям (bg) impf (obmísljam), обми́сля (bg) pf (obmíslja) Catalan: ponderar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 思考 (zh) (sīkǎo), 考慮 / 考虑 (zh) (kǎolǜ) Danish: tænke efter Dutch: overdenken (nl) Esperanto: pripensi Finnish: pohtia (fi) French: s'interroger (fr) Galician: ponderar (gl), parar mentes German: überlegen (de), nachdenken (de) Hindi: विचारना (hi) (vicārnā) Hungarian: latolgat (hu), fontolgat (hu), mérlegel (hu), fontolóra vesz (hu) Icelandic: íhuga Italian: ponderare (it) Latin: expendō (la), meditor, aspicio (la) Maori: taute, hurihuri Ottoman Turkish: طارتمق (tartmak) Polish: zastanawiać się impf, zastanowić się pf Portuguese: ponderar (pt) Russian: обду́мывать (ru) impf (obdúmyvatʹ), обду́мать (ru) pf (obdúmatʹ) Scottish Gaelic: meòraich, cnuasaich Spanish: ponderar (es), sopesar (es) Swedish: fundera (sv), grubbla (sv), grunna (sv) Ukrainian: обду́мувати (uk) impf (obdúmuvaty), обду́мати pf (obdúmaty), обмірко́вувати impf (obmirkóvuvaty), обміркува́ти pf (obmirkuváty)

Noun

ponder (plural ponders)

1. (colloquial) A period of deep thought.

   I lit my pipe and had a ponder about it, but reached no definite conclusion.

Further reading

• “ponder”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “ponder”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Penrod, podner, proned