English
ponder
Ponder comes from Old French ponderer ‘to weigh, balance, ponder’, and goes back to Latin pendere.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendere‘to weigh’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpondus‘weight’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEponderāre‘to weigh, ponder’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ponderer‘to weigh, balance, ponder’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ponderen
- Englishearliest quotation 1611ponder
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendere‘to weigh’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpondus‘weight’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEponderāre‘to weigh, ponder’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ponderer‘to weigh, balance, ponder’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ponderen
- Englishearliest quotation 1611ponder
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Ponder the path of thy feet.”
Linked words
through Latin pendere ‘to weigh’
suspension, dispense, penchant, pend, 9 more
through Latin pondus ‘weight’
Today it means
verb To wonder, think of deeply.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin pendere / ponder