English
meditation
Meditation comes from Latin meditatio ‘the act of thinking over something,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure, limit, consider, advise’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-‘to measure, limit, consider, advise’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeditārī‘to meditate, to think over, consider’next step skipped: Latin meditor
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeditatus‘meditating, having meditated’past participle of meditārī
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeditatio‘the act of thinking over something, contemplation, meditation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400meditacion
- Englishearliest quotation 2007meditation
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-‘to measure, limit, consider, advise’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeditārī‘to meditate, to think over, consider’next step skipped: Latin meditor
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeditatus‘meditating, having meditated’past participle of meditārī
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeditatio‘the act of thinking over something, contemplation, meditation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400meditacion
- Englishearliest quotation 2007meditation
Earliest quotation: 2007, 1995, Richard Rhodes: “Free-associating on paper is valuable—letting loose, as I described…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure, limit, consider, advise’
must, model, modern, medical, mode, mood, medicine, mud, module, mold, remedy, mould, med, blackmail, medication, modification, modal, medicinal, modus, medic, modulation, modulus, mote, modulate, modicum, modulo, mete, modifiable, 32 more
Today it means
noun A devotional exercise of, or leading to, contemplation.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *med- / meditation