Deliberation

How to spell deliberation

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce deliberation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does deliberation mean?

1. nounThe act of thinking about or discussing something carefully and at length before deciding.
2. nounSlow, careful, and purposeful manner of doing or moving.

Deliberation in a sentence

• After much deliberation, the committee approved the new budget.

• She signed each form with slow deliberation, checking every line.

• The decision deserves serious deliberation rather than a rushed answer.

• He crossed the icy yard with great deliberation to avoid slipping.

Where does deliberation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb deliberare, which meant to weigh something carefully in the mind, to consider, or to consult. It was built from the intensive prefix de- and a verb connected to librare, meaning to weigh or balance, which in turn comes from libra, the Latin word for a pair of scales (the very same libra that names the zodiac sign and once stood behind the British pound's old abbreviation). The original image, then, is mental weighing: setting reasons on either side of a balance before reaching a verdict. The noun deliberatio passed into English through Old French in the late 1300s, carrying the sense of careful, measured thought. From that idea of weighing things slowly came the secondary meaning of unhurried, purposeful movement, as in walking with deliberation. A useful spelling cue is that middle 'liber', the weighing root, which also surfaces in 'deliberate'.

How the word is built

• de- (fully, thoroughly)
• liber (from Latin librare, to weigh, ultimately libra, a balance or scales)
• -ation (noun of action)