meditate

meditate — verb

1. to sit or rest in a quiet place and direct your attention inward, for example by

1.verbintransitiveB1
Definition

to sit or rest in a quiet place and direct your attention inward, for example by focusing on your breathing or repeating a word silently, in order to feel calm or as part of a spiritual or religious tradition

Example

Every morning before work, Maeve meditates for fifteen minutes in her quiet study.

meditate + for + time period

The Buddhist nun showed the visitors how to meditate by concentrating on each breath.

how to meditate + by + method

Common collocations
  • meditate daily
  • meditate in silence
  • meditate on a mantra
  • learn to meditate
Synonyms
  • contemplate

    more general; can mean looking at something from all angles without the structured breathing or posture of meditating

  • reflect

    focuses on turning over past events or ideas, not necessarily with a relaxation goal

Antonyms
  • ignore

    to deliberately pay no attention rather than focus inward

Grammar Patterns

meditate + for + duration

meditate + by + method

Common Mistakes

I meditated on my homework for three hours.
I concentrated on my homework for three hours.
meditate refers to mental calm or spiritual practice, not focused academic work.

2. to give your full, serious attention to a particular subject or question over a

2.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to give your full, serious attention to a particular subject or question over a period of time, carefully examining it from different sides

Example

After the meeting, Ilan meditated on the team's proposal for several hours before replying.

meditate on + [topic]

Ari sat on the balcony, meditating on the meaning of his grandmother's final words to him.

Common collocations
  • meditate on a question
  • meditate upon the meaning
  • meditate at length
Synonyms
  • ponder

    suggests weighing something slowly and with care, often with a sense of uncertainty

  • reflect

    often implies looking back at past events; can be less sustained than meditate

  • contemplate

    suggests viewing something from many angles, sometimes with a sense of wonder or admiration

Antonyms
  • dismiss

    to reject or put aside without serious thought

  • ignore

    to refuse to give attention to a matter

Grammar Patterns

meditate + on/upon + noun phrase

Usage Note

Frequently used with the preposition 'on' or the more formal 'upon' to introduce the subject of thought. Unlike worry or brood, meditating suggests a deliberate, calm, and constructive process.

Common Mistakes

She meditated on her problems all night and could not sleep.
She stayed up all night worrying about her problems and could not sleep.
meditating implies calm purposeful thought, not anxious repetition.

3. to arrive at a firm decision about a future action and keep that decision presen

3.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to arrive at a firm decision about a future action and keep that decision present in your thinking as a settled intention

Example

The exiled leader was meditating a return to his homeland when news of the amnesty arrived.

meditate + [plan/action as object]

For years, Élise had meditated a grand voyage across the Pacific on a sailing boat.

Common collocations
  • meditate revenge
  • meditate a scheme
  • meditate an escape
Synonyms
  • intend

    more common and neutral; lacks the prolonged, deliberate quality of meditate

  • contemplate

    can overlap with sense 3, but contemplatesuggests considering options without necessarily settling on one

Antonyms
  • abandon

    to give up a plan or intention

Grammar Patterns

meditate + noun phrase referring to an action or plan

Usage Note

This sense is formal and more common in literary or historical writing than in everyday speech. It takes a direct object that describes an action or plan, not a person or object. Distinguish from sense 2 (DEEP THOUGHT): sense 2 means examining an idea; sense 3 means settling on a course of action.

Common Mistakes

I am meditating going to the supermarket.
I am planning to go to the supermarket.
this formal sense of meditate is too grand for routine daily errands.

Word family

  • meditation
    nounB1
  • meditative
    adjectiveB2
  • meditatively
    adverbC1
  • meditator
    nounC1
  • premeditated
    adjectiveB2
  • premeditation
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/2

Meditate, ponder, reflect, and contemplate all describe sustained thought, but they differ in tone and focus. Meditate (sense 2) suggests calm, serious examination of a subject, often with a purposeful or slightly solemn quality — you meditate on a big life decision, not on what to have for lunch. Ponder implies weighing something slowly, turning it over with a sense of uncertainty: you ponder a puzzling question or a problem without an obvious answer. Reflect often looks backward, connecting past experiences to the present: you reflect on your childhood or an earlier conversation. Contemplate suggests viewing something from many angles, sometimes with admiration or wonder — you can contemplate a work of art, a beautiful landscape, or a philosophical idea. To give a concrete example: you might meditate on whether to change jobs (a careful, serious decision), ponder why a friend stopped calling (a puzzle with no clear answer), reflect on the lessons of last year (looking back), and contemplate the vastness of the night sky (viewing with wonder).

ponderreflect ↗contemplate ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • meditate on the meaning of
  • meditate at length

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Meditate comes from the Latin verb meditārī, meaning 'to think about, consider, or practise.' This Latin root is related to medērī ('to heal') and medicus ('doctor'), all going back to an Indo-European root *med- meaning 'to take appropriate measures.' The sense of purposeful reflection has been present from the beginning. English borrowed the word through French méditer in the mid-1500s, and the specific meaning involving seated mental exercises for relaxation or spiritual growth became increasingly common in the 1900s as Eastern meditation practices spread to the West.