Standard Lemma guide

cogitation

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • kŏj'ĭ-tāʹshən
  • kä'jə-tāʹshən
  • kōj'ĭ-tāʹshən
  • UK: /ˌkɒd͡ʒ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
  • UK: /ˌkɒː.d͡ʒəˈteɪ.ʃən/
  • UK: /ˌkəʊd͡ʒ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
  • US: /ˌkɑd͡ʒ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
  • US: /ˌkɑː.d͡ʒəˈteɪ.ʃən/
  • US: /ˌkoʊd͡ʒ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA2 JH IH0 T EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The process of cogitating; contemplation, deliberation, reflection, meditation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A carefully considered thought, idea, notion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

attentive consideration and meditation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • after much cogitation he rejected the offer

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: study

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: contemplation, reflection, reflexion, rumination, musing, thoughtfulness

Narrower terms: lucubration

4

noun

Meaning 4

a carefully considered thought about something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his cogitations were dutifully recorded in his daybook

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: idea, thought

History

Etymology

Latinism, likely a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin cogitatio, cogitationis, possibly influenced by or displacing an earlier doublet of cogitacion inherited from Middle English cogitacioun, from an Old French cogitaciun, from Vulgar Latin cōgitātiō, cōgitātiōnem; compare Middle French cogitatiun, French cogitation. All ultimately from verbal construction cōgitātus + -iō, from the perfect passive participle of Latin cōgitō (“to turn over in the mind; think, consider, ponder, meditate”), frequentative verb from con- (“together, with”) + agitō (“to put in constant motion, drive at something; devise, plot, contrive”), root from Proto-Italic *agō (“to drive, impel”) from Proto-Indo-European *h2eǵ-.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: размишление (razmišlenie) — process of cogitating
  • Catalan: cogitació — process of cogitating
  • French: cogitation — process of cogitating
  • Italian: cogitazione — process of cogitating
  • Latin: cogitatio — process of cogitating
  • Portuguese: cogitação — process of cogitating
  • Sicilian: cugitazioni — process of cogitating
  • Spanish: cogitación — process of cogitating