Ponder

How to spell ponder

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ponder

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ponder mean?

1. verbTo think about something carefully and at length before reaching a decision or conclusion.

Ponder in a sentence

• She sat by the window to ponder the job offer overnight.

• The committee needed a week to ponder the budget proposals.

Where does ponder come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Ponder comes from the Latin verb ponderare, meaning 'to weigh' or 'to consider', which was built on the noun pondus (genitive ponderis), literally 'a weight'. The Romans used ponderare both for physically weighing something on a balance and, figuratively, for weighing ideas in the mind, and it is that mental sense that English kept. The word reached English in the 1300s by way of Old French ponderer, and at first it could still mean to appraise or estimate the value of something. Over time the literal weighing sense fell away, leaving only the meaning of turning a matter over carefully in thought. The same pondus root survives in the everyday word 'ponderous', meaning heavy or weighty, which is a useful reminder that to ponder is to let a thought sit heavily in your mind.

How the word is built

• pond- (from Latin pondus: weight)
• -er (verb ending, via French)