Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “ponder” come from?

Ponder comes from Middle English ponderen, from Old French ponderer, from Latin ponderare, meaning to weigh, derived from Latin pondus (weight), which traces to Latin pendere (to hang or weigh) and Proto-Indo-European (s)pend-.

ponder (English): to wonder, think of deeply; to consider ...

Definitions

  1. to wonder, think of deeply; to consider ...

Ancestry of “ponder”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinpondusweight; weight of a pound; heaviness, weight of a...
2Proto-Italicpondos—
3Proto-Indo-European(s)pénd-os—
4Proto-Indo-European(s)pend-to stretch

Words derived from “ponder”

  • imponderable
  • ponderable
  • pondereth
  • ponderer
  • ponderability
  • imponderably
  • ponderest
  • imponderableness
  • pondersome
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)pend- →