noun · 7 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
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/mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪʃən
CMU ARPABET:M EH2 D AH0 T EY1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A devotional exercise of, or leading to, contemplation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any of various types of achieving more or less altered states of consciousness, such as vacancy of mind or prolonged contemplation on a single sensation or thought, through relaxed or focused mental and physical activity generally of a nonstrenuous and non–substance-induced nature.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A contemplative discourse, often on a religious or philosophical subject.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
Her book is less a cookbook than a meditation on the craft of cookery.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A musical theme treated in a meditative manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Careful and thorough thought.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
deep meditation
in meditation
He was lost in careful meditation on how best to proceed when a sudden phone call forced him to decide.
From Old French meditacion, from Latin meditatio, from meditatus, the past participle of meditārī (“to meditate, to think over, consider”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, limit, consider, advise”).
Across languages
Translations
83 source translations are retained for this English entry.
