meditation
(mɛdɪˈteɪʃən)
[a. F. méditation or ad. L. meditātiōn-em, n. of action f. meditārī to meditate.]
1. The action, or an act, of meditating; continuous thought or musing upon one subject or series of subjects; serious and sustained reflection or mental contemplation.
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 256 Fro hevene as thogh a vois it were, To soune of such prolacioun That he his meditacioun Therof mai take. a 1460 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 242 That the heyere herd with good medytacioun May the pore peple swych wyse avaunce [etc.]. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 233 Meditacyon is a profounde or studyous cogitacyon about ony certeyn thynge. 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. i. 1 Reasoning may be..in solitary meditations and deliberations with a mans selfe. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 164 The imperiall Votresse passed on, In maiden meditation, fancy free. 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 5 Meditation, I saw, was but a reiterated thought, proper to production of good or evill. 1712 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mr. W. Montagu 9–11 Dec., The terrace is..consecrated to meditation..gay or grave. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. ii. i, My lord, pray pardon me For breaking in upon your meditation. 1831 Lytton Godolphin vi, After a fortnight's delay and meditation, he wrote. 1848 Dickens Dombey i, His meditations on the subject were soon interrupted, by the rustling of garments on the staircase. |
† b. Thought or mental contemplation
of something.
Obs.| 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1235/1 The fleshe shrinckynge at the meditacion of payne and deathe. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 81 It is the wisdome of Cats to whet their Claws..in meditation of the next Rat they are to encounter. |
2. spec. in religious use: That kind of private devotional exercise which consists in the continuous application of the mind to the contemplation of some religious truth, mystery, or object of reverence, in order that the soul may increase in love of God and holiness of life.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter Prol., Þare in is discryued..þe meditacioun of contemplatifs. c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. 7 Thenne cometh so mery meditacyons wyth plente of teres of compascyon. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 46 Of God and goodnes was his meditation. 1641 Hinde J. Bruen xlv. 145 His first dayly duty, namely his holy and religious Meditation. 1704 M. Henry Commun. Comp. vi. Wks. 1853 I. 330/1 In meditation we converse with ourselves; in prayer we converse with God. 1893 Patmore Relig. Poetæ 34 The hour or half-hour of daily ‘meditation’..is now unheard of. 1897 Cath. Dict. (ed. 5) 618/1 It was St. Ignatius of Loyola who reduced the rules of meditation to a system. |
b. Used for: The theme of one's meditation.
| 1560 Bible (Geneva) Ps. cxix. 97 Oh how loue I thy Law! it is my meditacion continually. Ibid. 99, I haue had more vnderstanding then all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditacion. |
3. A discourse, written or spoken, in which a subject (usually religious) is treated in a meditative manner, or which is designed to guide the reader or hearer in meditation.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 44 Redinge of Englichs, oðer of Freinchs, holi meditaciuns. c 1320 R. Brunne (title) Here bygynneþ meditacyuns of the soper of oure lorde Ihesu. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. Prol. 55 But nathelees, this meditacion I putte it ay vnder correccion Of clerkes. 1612 A. Stafford (title) Meditations and Revolutions, moral, divine, politicall. 1710 Swift (title) A meditation upon a broom-stick. 1746 Hervey (title) Meditations among the Tombs. |
| attrib. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 95 The essay-writers,..reflection-coiners. meditation-founders, and others of the irregular kind of writers. |