▪ I. † ˈponderate, ppl. a. Obs.
[ad. L. ponderātus, pa. pple. of ponderāre to weigh: see ponder v.]
Weighed: = ponderated. (Const. as pa. pple.)
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VI. 347 Theire intencions be ponderate afore Allemyȝhty God. Ibid. VII. 155 Everyche operacion or dede of man awe to be ponderate [librari] after the intention of the doer. |
▪ II. ponderate, v.
(ˈpɒndəreɪt)
[f. L. ponderāt-, ppl. stem of ponderāre: see prec. and -ate3.]
1. intr. a. To have weight or heaviness; to be heavy, to weigh. † b. To weigh down, press down, ‘gravitate’ (obs.).
| 1659 Stanley Hist. Philos. xiii. (1701) 577/1 The Center, towards which, all things that ponderate are directed in a streight line. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. ii. 103 The Ayr..also ponderates, and is heavy, in its own Atmosphære. 1698 W. Chilcot Evil Thoughts iii. (1851) 29 The soul..thereby..ponderates towards God. 1730 Savery in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 331 This must make it apparently..to ponderate less, as is the Case of Stilliards. 1775 N. D. Falck Day's Diving Vessel 14 The upper column of water ponderating downwards. 1789 T. Taylor Proclus' Comm. II. 3 We desire it may be granted..that things equally heavy, from equal lengths, will equally ponderate. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. xiv. (1872) VI. 300 To ponderate or preponderate there. |
† 2. trans. To weigh down, press down; to influence, bias. Obs.
| 1670 Baxter Cure Ch.-Div. 156 His opinion,..or secret affection, doth byas and ponderate his mind, more to one side than to the other. 1709 Mrs. Manley Secret Mem. (1720) II. 232 Those persons..put Favour and Corruption in the Ballance, ponderating the Scale, not as they ought, but as they will. |
† 3. trans. To weigh in the mind, ponder. Obs.
| 1513 Jas. IV Let. to Hen. VIII in Hall Chron. (1548) 30 The greate wronges and vnkyndnes done before to vs and our lyeges we ponderate. 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus i. 760 Thay..Ponderat weill the falt superlatiue. 1626 Jackson Creed viii. xii. §8 If wee ponderate S{supt} Luke's relation of his agony aright. 1752–3 A. Murphy Gray's-Inn Jrnl. No. 18 They is to ponderate how far they agrees. |
† b. intr. (with on, upon). Obs.
| a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. ix. 483 They ordinarily ponderate and deliberate upon every thing more than how it becomes them to live. |
4. trans. To estimate the importance or value of; to appraise. rare.
| a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Answ. to Objections, Wks. (1711) 214 The baseness of the deed would be ponderated. 1868 Contemp. Rev. IX. 39 Mr. Lowe ‘ponderates’ (as he says) education more by the value of the thing learnt than by the value of the process in learning. Ibid. 41 The attempt to ‘ponderate’ various kinds of learning. |
Hence ˈponderated, ˈponderating ppl. adjs.
| 1892 Harper's Mag. Sept. 505/2 Sarcey's ponderated common-sense prose. 1890 Cent. Dict., Ponderating sinker. |
▪ III. ˈponderate, a. rare.
[f. L. ponderāt-, ppl. stem of ponderāre to weigh, consider.]
Careful; deliberate.
| 1922 Times 7 Oct. 11/2 It is a time for calm and ponderate consideration of the issues involved. 1970 P. O'Brian Master & Commander x. 257 The mature, the ponderate mind does not embark itself upon a man-of-war—is not to be found wandering about the face of the ocean in quest of violence. |