introspect

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˌɪntrəˈspɛkt/ UK /ˌɪntrəˈspɛkt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to examine one's own thoughts and feelings

He paused to introspect before answering the difficult question.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to examine one's own... reflectself-examineruminate ponder contemplate

Word family

Derived forms introspection introspective introspectively

Related forms retrospect inspect

Etymology

From Latin introspectus, past participle of introspicere 'to look into', from intro- 'inward' plus specere 'to look'.

introspicere Latin specere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# introspect

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˌɪntrəˈspɛkt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌɪntrəˈspɛkt/

## Meanings
1. to examine one's own thoughts and feelings

## Examples
- He paused to introspect before answering the difficult question.

## Synonyms
- reflect
- self-examine
- ruminate
- ponder
- contemplate

## Derived Forms
- introspection
- introspective
- introspectively

## Related Forms
- retrospect
- inspect

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: introspicere
- Root: specere - to look at

## Etymology
From Latin introspectus, past participle of introspicere 'to look into', from intro- 'inward' plus specere 'to look'.

## AI Etymology
introspect comes from Latin introspectus, past participle of introspicere 'to look into', from intro- 'inward' plus specere 'to look'. Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the verb sense is "to examine one's own thoughts and feelings", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as retrospect and inspect, and in derivatives such as introspection, introspective, and introspectively. Its semantic neighborhood includes reflect, self-examine, ruminate, and ponder, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin introspicere and Latin specere.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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