contemplate 
contemplate (UoM-tem'plat or kon'tem-plat), 
I'. ; pret. and \i\i.ciniti-nipltitril, ppr. conic ni/ilut- 
imi. [< L. ciniii ii/iiiniii.-i, |i|i. of contaiiplari (> 
It. coiilfiiipliirc = Sp. \'. ctinti-mpttir = F. ciin- 
<< ni pier), look at, view attentively, observe, 
consider, orig. an augurial term, mark out a 
li-iiiplitm, a space for observation, < mm- + 1'in- 
iilum, a temple : see temple, and cf. roiitrmpli:] 
. trann. 1. To view, look at, or observe with 
continued attention. 
The territory of 1-oinbanly ... I <-<int<'nti<tnt<-<l round 
about from this tower. Coryat, Crudities, I. 118. 
2. To consider with continued attention ; re- 
flect upon; ponder; study; meditate on. 
Troth, I am taken, sir, 
Whole with these studies, that contemplate nature. 
It. .!" :> . Alchemist, iv. 1. 
There is not much difficulty in confining the mind to 
ri>n!i'tni>lutr what we have a great desire to know. Watlit. 
He contemplated the past with interest and delight, not 
I.. eaiise it ninii^lh'ii a contrast to the present, but liecause 
it had led to the present. Macaulay, History. 
3. To consider or have in view, as a future act 
or event ; intend. 
There remain some particulars to complete the informa- 
tion contemplated by those resolutions. 
Hamilton'* Report. 
If a treaty contains any stipulations which contemplate 
a state of future war, . . . they preserve their force and 
obligation when the rupture takes place. 
Chancellor Kent, Cora., I. } 178. 
4. To regard ; consider. 
Between the constituents of a knowledge of succession 
there can be no succession : so long as certain events are 
contemplated as successive, no one of them is an object to 
consciousness before or after another. 
1\ II. Green, Prolegomena to Ethics, 66. 
= Syn. 2. To consider, meditate upon, muse upon, reflect 
upon, ponder; dwell upon, think about. 3. To design, 
plan, purpose. 
II. intrant!. To think studiously; study; 
muse ; meditate ; consider deliberately. 
So many hours must I take my rest ; 
So many hours must I contemplate. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 5. 
When in obscure and dangerous places, we must not con- 
template, we must act, it may be on the instant. 
Dr. J. Brown, Spare Hours, 3d ser., p. 74, 
contemplation (kon-tein-pla'shpn), n. [< ME. 
contemplation, < OF. contemplation, F. contem- 
plation = Pr. contcinplatio = Sp. contemplation 
= Pg. contemplaySo = It. contemplazione, < L. 
contemplatio(n-), < contemplari, pp. contempla- 
tus, look at, consider : see contemplate.'] 1. The 
act of looking attentively or steadfastly at any- 
thing. 
As to the gentlemen, each of them tranquilly smoked 
his pipe, and seemed lost in contemplation of the blue and 
white tiles with which the fireplaces were decorated. 
Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 171. 
2. The act of holding an idea continuously be- 
fore the mind ; mental vision ; the thinking long 
of anything in a somewhat passive way. 
If 1 could have remembered a gilt counterfeit, thou 
wouldst not have slipped out of my oontnuplattan, 
Skat., T. and C., II. 3. 
The next faculty of the mind ... is that which I call 
retention, or the keeping of those simple ideas which from 
sensation or reflection it hath received. This is done ill 
two ways : First, by keeping the idea which is brought 
into it for some time actually in view, which is called con- 
templation. Locke, Human Understanding, II. x. 1. 
Were pure contemplation the business of life, were it 
enough to think and feel aliout things, the logical end of 
it would be a self-annihilating ecstasy. 
Maudtley, Body and Will, p. 174. 
3. Continued or steadfast thinking in general, 
without reference to a particular object ; mus- 
ing; reverie. 
Contemplation makes a rare turkey-eock of him ! 
Shak., T. N., ii. 5. 
And Wisdom's self 
Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude ; 
Where, with her best nurse, Contemplation, 
She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 377. 
The mind . . . diffused itself in long contemplation, 
musing rather than thinking. /.'. Choate, Addresses, p. 64. 
Falling into a still delight, 
And luxury of contemplation. 
Tennytson, Eleaiiore. 
4. Religious meditation. 
And that done euery man yauo hym to prayer, content 
i>/ii'-'i"ii, and deuocion. 
Sir It. iliiiilforilt, Pylgrymage, p. 38. 
When lioly and devout religious men 
AIV at their beads, tis much t draw them thence ; 
So sweet is zealous BBMtMMteMM 
Skat., Rich. III., iii. 7. 
5. The act of intending, purposing, or consid- 
ering, with a view to carrying into effect; ex- 
pectation with intention. 
In riHiteiapliiliiiii of returning at an early date, he left, 
leaving his house imdUmuntlcd. Reid. 
1223 
contemplatistt, n. [< contemplate + -ist.] One 
who contemplates. ,/<r. Tiii//nr. [Rare.] 
contemplative (kon-tem'pla-tiv), a. and n. [< 
MK. i-inili -ni/ilntif = D. Kontvmplaticf = Dan. 
kontcnii>liitii\ < OF. contemplatijf, F. contcmpla- 
'/' = Pr. /null-mi, In/in = Sp. Pg. It. contemjila- 
tiro, < L. contemplations, < conti'm/ilnlns, pp. 
of contemplari, contemplate: see contero/jfate.] 
1. n. 1. Given to or characterized by contem- 
plation or continued and absorbed reflection ; 
employed in reflection or study; reflective; 
meditative; thoughtful: as, a contemplative 
mind. 
Contemplatyf lyf or actyf lyf Cryst wolde men wroujte. 
Piert Plomnan (B), vi. 451. 
My life hath been rather contemplative than active. 
Bacon. 
The studious and contemplative part of mankind. 
Locke, Human Understanding. 
In his dark eyes . . . was that placidity which conies 
from the fullness of contemplative thought the mind 
not searching, but beholding. 
Oeorge Eliot, Mlddlemarch, II. 35. 
2. Marked by contemplation ; manifesting re- 
flection or a studious habit. 
Fix'd and runii'mplnthv their looks, 
Still turning over nature's books. 
Sir J. Denham. 
3. Relating or pertaining to contemplation or 
thought, as distinguished from action : as, con- 
templative philosophy; the contemplative faculty 
(that is, the faculty of cognition). 
H. n. 1. One given to contemplation or deep 
thought, especially on religious subjects ; a re- 
cluse ; a hermit. 
Among the older religions of the world, the pantheistic 
character of Buddhism made it the natural home of mys- 
ticism, and hence it has produced at all times a host of 
monks and contemplative^. 
11. .V. Oxenham, Short Studies, p. 359. 
2. Eccles., a friar of the order of Mary Magda- 
lene. 
contemplatively (kon-tem'pla-tiv-li), adv. 
With contemplation ; 'attentively ; thoughtfully ; 
with close attention. 
Contemplatively looking Into the clouds of his tobacco- 
pipe. Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, p. 12. 
contemplativeness (kqn-tem'pla-tiv-nes), . 
The state or quality of being contemplative. 
Mawkish sentimeutalism and rapturous contemplative- 
nets, that disdain common duties, find no nourishment or 
support in rabbinical theology. A'. A. Rev., CXXVI. 307. 
contemplator (kon'tem-pla-tor), n. [= F. 
contemplateur = Pr. Sp. Pg. contemplador = It. 
contemplatore, < L. contemplator, < contemplari, 
pp. contemplatus, contemplate: seecontetnplatc.] 
1 . One who engages in contemplation or reflec- 
tion; one who meditates or studies. 2. One 
who merely observes affairs, without taking 
part in them. [Rare.] 
Some few others sought after Him, but Aristotle saith, 
as the geometer doth after a right line only, ... as a 
contemplator of truth ; but not as the knowledge of It is 
anyway useful or conducible to the ordering or bettering 
of their lives. Hammond, Works, IV. 642. 
contemplaturet, n. [< contemplate + -ure.] 
The habit of contemplation; contemplative- 
ness. 
Loue desired in the budde, not knowing what the bios- 
some were, may delight the conceiptes of the head, but it 
will destroye the contemplature of the heart. 
Lyly, Euphues and his England, p. 270. 
contemplet (kon-tem'pl), v. t. [< F. contem- 
ler = Sp. Pg. contemplar = It. contemplare, < 
. contemplari, contemplate : see contemplate.'] 
To contemplate. 
I may at rest contemple 
The starry arches of thy spacious temple. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Columnes. 
contemporalt, a. [< LL. contemporalis, contem- 
porary, < L. com-, together, + temporalis, < tem- 
pus (tempor-), time: see temporal.] Of the 
same time ; contemporary. Bailey. 
contemporaneity (kon-tem'po-ra-ne'i-ti), n. 
[= F. contciin>ra>i<'ite = Sp. contcmporancidad= 
Pg. contemnoraneidade, < L. as if 'contempora- 
neita(t-)s, \contemporaneus, contemporaneous: 
see contemporaneous^] The state of being con- 
temporaneous ; contemporariness. 
While on the one hand M. Mariette stoutly asserts that 
they [the monuments of Egypt] show none of Manetho's 
dynasties to have been contemporary-, all other Egyptolo- 
gers declare that they prove rnntriiiin-an<itii in several 
in>tain'i ,. G. Rawlinson, Origin of Nations, p. 28. 
contemporaneous (kon-tem-po-ra'ne-us), a. 
[= F. citiiti-mporiiin = Sp. contfmpordneo = Pg. 
It. contcmporanto, < L. contemporaneim, < com-. 
together, + tfmpitx (trmpor-), time: see tempo- 
ral.] Living or existing at the same time ; con- 
temporary. Also cotemporaneous. 
contempt 
The steps by whleli Ath< man .>i,itiy approached to its 
tlllislleil exeellelire seem to liave heell allli">t '-iintempo. 
raneout with those by which the Athenian character and 
the Athenian empire sunk to degradation. 
Macaulai/, Athenian Orators. 
The birds and the reptiles come In together as allied and 
coittcniporaiKou* groups. 
Daunon, Nature and the Bible, p. 116. 
= Syn. Sei -mi. 
contemporaneously (kon-tem-po-ra'ne-us-li), 
ailr. At the same time with gome other per- 
son, thing, or event. 
It Is lucky for the peace of great men that the world 
seldom finds out contemporantowdi/ who its great men 
are. Lour/I, I iie>i<l. Travels, p. 4. 
contemporaneousness (kon-tem-po-ra'ne-us- 
nes), n. The state or fact of being contempo- 
raneous. 
The three imperfect tenses, then, convey, In addition to 
standpoint and stage of action, a third Idea that of con- 
' ini'ofaneowtnfun. Amer. Jour. /.'.</>/. VIII. 08. 
contemporariness (kon-tem'po-ra-ri-nes), n. 
Existence at the same time ; contemporaneous- 
ness. Howell. [Rare.] 
Contemporari net* with Columbus. 
The American, VIII. 252. 
contemporary (kon-tem'po-ra-ri), a. and n. 
[Also written cotemporary ; < L. con- or co-, 
together, + temporarius, pertaining to time, < 
tempus (tempor-), time: see temporary, and cf. 
coiitemjioraneous.] I. a. 1. Living, existing, 
or occurring at the same time ; contemporane- 
ous : said of persons, things, or events. 
It is impossible to ... bring ages post and future to- 
gether, aud make them contemporary. Locke. 
We know from contemporary witnesses what were the 
institutions of not a few Greek cities. 
B. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 257. 
Specifically 2. Living or existing at the same 
time with one's self. 
Let me no longer waste the night over the page of an- 
liquify, or the sallies of contemporary genius. 
Guldtmith, The Bee, No. 4. 
3. Of the same age; coeval. [Rare.] 
A neighbouring wood, born with himself, he sees, 
And loves his old contemporary trees. 
Cowley, Claudian's Old Man of Verona. 
[In all senses absolutely or with with, for- 
merly to.] 
H. . ; pi. contemporaries (-riz). One living 
at the same time (with another). 
From the time of Boecace and of Petrarch the Italian has 
varied very little ; . . . the English of Chaucer, their con- 
temporary, is not to be understood without the help of an 
old dictionary. Dryden, Ued. of Troilus and Cresslda. 
Don Quixote and Sancho, like the men and women of 
Shakespeare, are the contemporaries of every generation, 
because they are not products of an artificial and transi- 
tory society. Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser, p. 172. 
contemporize (kon-tem'po-riz), v. t. ; pret. and 
pp. contemporized, ppr. contemporising. [= Sp. 
contempori:ar = Pg. contemporigar ; with added 
suffix, < LL. contemporare, be at the same time, 
< L. com-, together, + tempus (tempor-), time.] 
To make contemporary; place in, or contem- 
plate as belonging to, the same age or time. 
Sir T. Browne. [Rare.] 
Mr. Cariyle has this power of contemporizing himself 
with bygone times. 
Lomll, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 258. 
contempt (kon-tempf), n. [< ME. contempt, < 
OF. contempt, < L. contemptun, scorn, < contftn- 
nere, pp. coiitemptus, scorn, despise: see con- 
temn.'] 1. The act of despising; the feeling 
caused by what is considered to be mean, vile, 
or worthless ; disdain ; scorn for what is mean. 
O, what a deal of scorn looks beautiful 
In the contempt and anger of his lip ! 
Shak., T. N., iU. 1. 
Those who survey only one half of his [Bacon's] character 
may speak of him with unmixed 1 admiration, or with 1111 
mixed contempt. Macaulay, Lord Bacon. 
2. The state of being despised; shame; dis- 
grace. 
Remove from me reproach and contempt. Ps. cxix. 22. 
3. In laic, disobedience to, or open disrespect 
of, the rules, orders, or process of a court or 
of a legislative assembly, or a disturbance or 
interruption of its proceedings: called in full, 
when used in relation to judicial authority, con- 
tempt (if court. Contempts committed out of court are 
punishable by order to show cause or attachment, on the 
return of which the offender may be flned or imprisoned ; 
and contempts done before the court or judge, termed 
contempts in Immediate view and prcM M. , ma\ >>e pun- 
ished or repressed in a summary way. by immediate coni- 
niitiiient to prison or by fine. The power of enforcing their 
I'M s. and of vindicating their authority against open ob- 
struction or defiance, is iiiciilent to all superior courts. 
Both strangers and members are now severely punished 
torcontemptxot the House and its jurisdiction. Brougham. 
