contemplation Hear it!

contemplation Definition

con·tem·pla·tion (kän′təm plā′s̸hən)

noun

  1. thoughtful inspection, study, etc.
  2. religious or mystical meditation
  3. expectation or intention

Etymology: ME contemplacion < OFr < L contemplatio

contemplation Synonyms

contemplation

n.

  1. Meditation

    consideration, reflection, study; see reflection 1, thought 1.

  2. Intention

    design, expectation, ambition; see anticipation 1, plan 2, purpose 1.

contemplation Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • proceeding: The Act deals differently with statements contained in general business documents and statements made in contemplation of criminal proceedings.
  • marriage: When you plan to marry there is an alternative that allows you to make a Will in contemplation of marriage.
  • truth: There's nothing to touch your emotions except the contemplation of truth.
  • party: In contract, the damages are limited to what may reasonably be supposed to have been in the contemplation of the parties.
  • nature: There should be joy and satisfaction and the enjoyment and contemplation of nature, artistry and beauty.
  • object: The contemplation of objects, the images that soar from the reveries they have induced, constitute the song.

Converse of object

  • invite: At the turn of the millenium, the Congress invites contemplation of landmarks in the long history of humanity.
  • encourage: Keir Smith's installation has restored the itinerary of the original design, encouraging contemplation on the construction of meaning.
  • bear: What he would say of Oxford literary criticism today hardly bears contemplation.
  • provoke: The effect is to provoke deeper contemplation in the mind of the reader; language truly is endlessly complex!
  • require: Broken is often a frustrating read in that each chapter requires contemplation due to the thought-provoking themes it touches upon.

Adjective modifier

  • heavenly: Thus you see the powerful tendency of consideration to produce this great elevation of the soul in heavenly contemplation.
  • quiet: Then followed a period of quiet contemplation to end the ceremony.
  • silent: In silent contemplation, we can be mindful of the gap.
  • esthetic: Indeed, most of them were not made to become subject to esthetic contemplation in Western art museums.
  • solitary: It is designed to accommodate activity ranging from a large celebration to solitary contemplation.
  • passive: Isolated individuals, united only by a passive contemplation of the spectacle.

Modifies a noun

  • stage: The results of the questionnaire indicate that Dan is in the contemplation stage, not ready to make the changes.
  • room: UCL does have a contemplation room open to all, in Hut 34.
contemplation Quotes

The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation† The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.

—Bronowski,Jacob

Jerusalem the golden, With milk and honey blessed, Beneath thy contemplation Sink heart and voice oppressed. I know not,O I know not What joys await us there, What radiancy of glory, What light beyond compare.

—Neale,J(ames) M(ason)

Virtue could see to do what Virtue would By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. And Wisdom's self Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude, Where with her best nurse contemplation She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings That in the various bustle of resort Were all too ruffl'd, and sometimes impair'd. He that has light within his own clear breast May sit i'the centre, and enjoy bright day, But he that hides a dark soul, and foul thoughts Benighted walks under the midday sun; Himself is his own dungeon.

—Milton,John

Though both Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed; For contemplation he and valour formed, For softness she and sweet attractive grace, He for God only, she for God in him.

—Milton,John

He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other men, he should have known no more than other men.

—Aubrey,John

In contemplation of created things By steps we may ascend to God.

—Milton,John

When you notice a cat in profound meditation The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: His ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular name.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

Both the cow-woman and the scum-woman are well within range of the comprehension of the Bawling Brotherhood, but the new woman is a little above him, and he never thought of looking up to where she has been sitting apart in silent contemplation all these years.

—Clarke

That virtue therefore which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evil, and knows not the utmost that vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is but a blank virtue, not a pure; her whiteness is but an excremental whiteness.

—Milton,John