ruminate
[roo-muh-neyt]
- to chew the cud, as a ruminant.
- to meditate or muse; ponder.
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- to chew again or over and over.
- to meditate on; ponder.
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Origin of ruminate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for ruminate on Thesaurus.com2. think, reflect.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ruminative
Contemporary Examples
The narrator, a Nigerian psychiatry student, is emotionally distant, ruminative, and intellectual.
Historical Examples
Thorpe had concluded his philosophical remarks with ruminative slowness.
The Market-PlaceHarold Frederic
Yet it was not exactly a stare; it was too thoughtful, too ruminative, too unconscious for that.
Tristram of BlentAnthony Hope
She gazed steadily at the glowing coals, ruminative, reflective.
Antony Gray,--GardenerLeslie Moore
He paused for a while, then went on with ruminative authority.
Ripeness is AllJesse Roarke
Hers had been a ruminative existence, for its uncertainty but rarely disturbed her.
The BenefactressElizabeth Beauchamp
ruminate
- (of ruminants) to chew (the cud)
- (when intr , often foll by upon, on, etc) to meditate or ponder (upon)
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin rūmināre to chew the cud, from rumen
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ruminative
ruminate
v.
1530s, "to turn over in the mind," also "to chew cud" (1540s), from Latin ruminatus, past participle of ruminare "to chew the cud; turn over in the mind," from rumen (genitive ruminis) "gullet," of uncertain origin. Related: Ruminated; ruminating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper