meditari

Meditari is a Latin deponent verb of the first conjugation meaning to meditate, contemplate, reflect, study, or practice. Its core sense is deliberate thought directed at a subject or activity, including the consideration of virtues, ideas, or plans. As a deponent, it takes passive forms but carries active meaning in translation.

The principal parts are meditor, meditari, meditatus sum. Because it is deponent, its forms appear with passive endings, even though the sense is active (e.g., present meditor, meditaris, meditatur; future meditabor; perfect meditatus sum; pluperfect meditatus eram).

Usage and range: Meditari is common in philosophical, rhetorical, and religious Latin. It often governs objects with de or in to specify what is contemplated: for example, de virtutibus meditari (“to meditate on virtues”) or in studiis meditari (“to apply oneself to studies”). The noun meditātio denotes the act of contemplation or meditation. Related participial forms, such as meditatus, appear in various compounding expressions.

Context and influence: In classical authors such as Cicero and Seneca, meditari describes deliberate thinking, mental preparation, or methodical study. In late antique and medieval Christian Latin, the verb also occurs in spiritual exercises and prayer literature. In English-language scholarship and translations, meditari is typically rendered as “to meditate” or “to contemplate,” with meditatio provided as the corresponding noun.

See also: meditatio; meditation; contemplation.