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rumination

[roo-muh-neyt]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used without object)

to chew the cud, as a ruminant.

to meditate or muse; ponder.

verb (used with object)

to chew again or over and over.

to meditate on; ponder.

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Rumination is always a great word to know.

So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

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Origin:
1525–35; < Latin rūminātus (past participle of rūminārī, rūmināre to ruminate), equivalent to rūmin- (stem of rūmen rumen) + -ātus -ate¹

Related forms

ru·mi·nat·ing·ly, adverb

ru·mi·na·tion, noun

ru·mi·na·tive, adjective

ru·mi·na·tive·ly, adverb

ru·mi·na·tor, noun

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non·ru·mi·nat·ing, adjective

non·ru·mi·nat·ing·ly, adverb

non·ru·mi·na·tion, noun

non·ru·mi·na·tive, adjective

un·ru·mi·nat·ed, adjective

un·ru·mi·nat·ing, adjective

un·ru·mi·nat·ing·ly, adverb

un·ru·mi·na·tive, adjective

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
2. think, reflect.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To rumination

Example Sentences

Wilson has endowed his hero with a gift of whimsical rumination.

The piece begins with a rumination on the effectiveness of last year's stimulus plan.

By the climax, the movie segues into a rumination on loss and the perils of being too playful.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

ruminate (ˈruːmɪˌneɪt)

—vb (when intr, often foll by upon, on, etc)
1.	(of ruminants) to chew (the cud)
2.	to meditate or ponder (upon)

[C16: from Latin rūmināre to chew the cud, from rumen]

rumi'nation

—n

'ruminative

—*adj*

'ruminatively

—*adv*

'ruminator

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ruminate

1533, "to turn over in the mind," also "to chew cud" (1547), from L. ruminatus, pp. of ruminare "to chew the cud, turn over in the mind," from rumen (gen. ruminis) "gullet," of uncertain origin.

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Matching Quote

"Ishmael's thought consciously extends itself to get behind the world of appearances; he wants to see and to understand everything. Ahab's drive is to prove, not to discover; the world that tortures Ishmael by its horrid vacancy has tempted Ahab into thinking he can make it over. He seeks to dominate nature, to impose and inflict his will on the outside world—whether it be the crew that must jump to his orders or the great white whale that is essentially indifferent to him. As Ishmael is all rumination, so Ahab is all will. Both are thinkers, the difference being that Ishmael thinks as a bystander, has identified his own state with man's utter unimportance in nature. Ahab, by contrast, actively seeks the whale in order to assert man's supremacy over what swims before him as "the monomaniac incarnation" of a superior power."

-Alfred Kazin

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rumination

ru·mi·nate