US /ˈɹumɪneɪt/ UK /ˈɹuːmɪnət/
verb adj Freq #72947

Meanings

  1. 1
    verb

    To think about something deeply and at length.

    I didn't answer right away because I needed to ruminate on the offer first.

  2. 2
    verb

    To bring food back up and chew it again, as cows and other ruminants do.

    A camel will ruminate just as a cow will.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 verb · to think about something... musereflectponder
Word family
Forms ruminatedruminatesruminating
Derived forms ruminativeruminator
Related forms rumenruminantruminationruminatory

Etymology

First attested in 1533; borrowed from Latin rūminātus, perfect active participle of rūminor (“to chew the cud, turn over in the mind”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from rūmen (“the throat, gullet”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), itself of uncertain origin.

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