Standard Lemma guide

excogitation

noun · 3 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɛksˌkɒdʒɪˈteɪʃən/
  • General-American: /ɛksˌkɑdʒəˈteɪʃən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən

1

noun

Meaning 1

Careful thought or consideration.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • c. 1672, William Petty - Political Arithmetick, p. 21. [...] the subtile excogitations of the Hollanders [...]
  • 186?, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend To the excogitation of this problem, this harmless gentleman had devoted many anxious hours [...]

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the creation of something in the mind

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: invention, innovation, conception, design

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: creativity, creativeness, creative thinking

Narrower terms: concoction, contrivance

3

noun

Meaning 3

thinking something out with care in order to achieve complete understanding of it

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: thinking, thought, thought process, cerebration, intellection, mentation

History

Etymology

From Latin excogitatio.