deliberation

American  

[dih-lib-uh-rey-shuhn] / dɪˌlɪb əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

• deliberations
  plural

1. careful consideration before decision.

   Synonyms:

   forethought, reflection

2. formal consultation or discussion.

3. deliberate quality; leisureliness of movement or action; slowness.

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deliberation British  

/ dɪˌlɪbəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. thoughtful, careful, or lengthy consideration

2. (often plural) formal discussion and debate, as of a committee, jury, etc

3. care, thoughtfulness, or absence of hurry, esp in movement or speech

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondeliberation
  noun
• overdeliberation
  noun
• predeliberation
  noun
• redeliberation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• deliberations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of deliberation

1325–75; Middle English deliberacion < Latin dēlīberātiōn- (stem of dēlīberātiō ), equivalent to dēlīberāt ( us ) ( see deliberate) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

The process of carefully considering what to do is called deliberation, like your deliberation before making one of the most important decisions in your life. The noun deliberation comes from the Latin word deliberare, meaning “weigh,” or “consider well.” Whenever a person or group needs to work through all of the possible solutions to a problem, this is deliberation. Something that is deliberate is done on purpose, not by chance or accident — deliberation carries this same spirit, in that it is a carefully thought-out process of making a decision.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deliberation deliberations

Three weeks into this deliberation, I met J. He came out of nowhere, it seemed, except I knew exactly where he came from: the same small-ish town that I did, including the same high school.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Jurors reached their verdicts after about six and a half hours of deliberation.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

The State Department declined to say whether Lex Libertas will be among those invited to compete, saying the grant is still under deliberation.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

"This has implications for critical real-world scenarios, like when a radiologist can accurately classify masses on an X-ray as benign or malignant fairly automatically, often without extensive deliberation, thanks to years of training," Cox said.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

Then Mosca said with great deliberation, “Boy, Riccio, that was a real speech!”

From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke

Nor did he deploy the jargon and mathematics that today render the deliberations of the doctors of economics unintelligible to any but a fellow adept.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

“Industry just says, ‘Shucks, write us another check,’” said one defense congressional staffer, who requested anonymity to speak about internal defense spending deliberations.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

He was found guilty in December 2025 on both counts by a jury after just two hours of deliberations, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

He also acknowledged that the jury was "exhausted" after deliberating from early Thursday morning, adding that "it would be totally wrong" to expect them to continue deliberations in the hours ahead.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

Studies have shown that racial schemas operate not only as part of conscious, rational deliberations, but also automatically—without conscious awareness or intent.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• conference
• consideration
• consultation
• debate
• speculation