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.

Related terms

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

 

Translations

to think deeply

• Arabic: تَفَكَّرَ (tafakkara)
• 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) (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: 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 (oc)
• Polish: dumać (pl), rozważać (pl), rozmyślać (pl) impf, namyślać się (pl) impf
• Portuguese: ponderar (pt)
• Russian: размышля́ть (ru) impf (razmyšljátʹ), размы́слить (ru) pf (razmýslitʹ), задуматься (ru) pf (zadumatʹsja)
• 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)

• Danish: tænke efter
• Dutch: overdenken (nl)
• Esperanto: pripensi (eo)
• 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)

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.
• “ponder”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Penrod, podner, proned

Middle 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”).

Noun

ponder (plural ponders)

1. (glassblowing, obsolete) A fourteenth-century unit of glass.