# meditation

Pronunciation: US say "med-i-TAY-shun" /mɛdɪˈteɪʃən/; UK

## Noun

1. The practice of reaching an altered state of consciousness through relaxed or focused mental or physical activity, such as emptying the mind or dwelling at length on a single sensation or thought.
   - Simple: A practice of calming your mind by sitting quietly and focusing on one thing, like your breath.
   - _After ten minutes of meditation, her racing thoughts finally settled._
   - _He attends a weeklong meditation retreat in the mountains every summer._
2. Careful and thorough thought; the sustained, deliberate consideration of a question or subject.
   - Simple: Long and careful thinking about a question or problem.
   - _Only after long meditation did the committee announce its decision._
   - _Her conclusion was the product of months of meditation on the evidence._
3. A devotional exercise of contemplation, or one intended to lead the practitioner toward contemplation.
   - Simple: A religious activity in which a person thinks quietly and deeply, often as a form of prayer.
   - _Before taking vows, the novice spent forty days in prayer and meditation._
   - _The retreat alternates scripture reading with periods of silent meditation._
4. A written or spoken discourse of a contemplative character, often on a religious or philosophical subject.
   - Simple: A piece of writing or a talk that shares deep thoughts, often about religion or life's big questions.
   - _His latest book is a meditation on grief and memory._
   - _The service closed with a brief meditation delivered by the chaplain._
5. A musical theme or composition treated in a slow, reflective, meditative manner.
   - Simple: A slow, calm piece of music that creates a quiet, thoughtful mood.
   - _The orchestra's encore was a meditation for solo violin and harp._
   - _The composer inserted a brief meditation between the symphony's stormy movements._

## Origin

It comes from Old French meditacion, from Latin meditatio, based on meditārī ("to meditate, think over, consider"), which itself traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to measure, consider, advise."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/meditation (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).