contemplation

[ kon-tuh m-pley-shuh n, -tem- ]

/ ˌkɒn təmˈpleɪ ʃən, -tɛm- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contemplation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of contemplating; thoughtful observation.

full or deep consideration; reflection: religious contemplation.

purpose or intention.

prospect or expectation.

Nearby words

conte, contemn, contemp., contemplable, contemplate, contemplation, contemplative, contemplative order, contempo, contemporaneous, contemporary

Origin of contemplation

1175–1225; < Latin contemplātiōn- (stem of contemplātiō); see contemplate, -ion; replacing Middle English contemplaci(o)un < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Related forms

pre·con·tem·pla·tion, nounre·con·tem·pla·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for contemplation

Contemplation and meditation are not just for monks and hermits.
At American Enterprise Institute, NeoCons Say ‘Hello, Dalai’|Eleanor Clift|February 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He went, and the experience “launched me into a lifelong passion for spirituality, meditation, and contemplation,” he said.
At American Enterprise Institute, NeoCons Say ‘Hello, Dalai’|Eleanor Clift|February 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death is both a contemplation of these facts and a reflection upon living with them for decades.
How Do You Write About the Holocaust?|Ilana Bet-El|May 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“Concentration and contemplation are still on the surface,” he explains.
David Lynch Discusses Transcendental Meditation in Los Angeles|Sean Macaulay|April 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Birthdays can be moments of contemplation, reexamination, and reinvention.
Happy Birthday, Fatah?|Gil Troy|January 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This is that contemplation of inexhaustible melancholy, whose shadow eclipses the brightness of the world.
A Defence of Poetry and Other Essays|Percy Bysshe Shelley
The contemplation of the wonders of Eternity does not conceal the advantages of actual and existent Time.
When the World Shook|H. Rider Haggard
The first, we suppose, is to no one a pleasing subject of contemplation.
Woman in the Nineteenth Century|Margaret Fuller Ossoli
Janet looked after her, an expression of contemplation pursing her features, wrinkling her forehead.
Sally Bishop|E. Temple Thurston
By contemplation penetrating into its inmost depths, through Intelligence she sees the divinity Himself.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 4|Plotinos (Plotinus)

British Dictionary definitions for contemplation

contemplation

/ (ˌkɒntɛmˈpleɪʃən, -təm-) /

noun

thoughtful or long consideration or observation

spiritual meditation esp (in Christian religious practice) concentration of the mind and soul upon GodCompare meditation

purpose or intention

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

contemplation

noun

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Origin of contemplation

Related forms

Examples from the Web for contemplation

British Dictionary definitions for contemplation

contemplation

noun