deliberate - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Inherited from Middle English deliberat(e), borrowed from Latin dēlīberātus, perfect passive participle of dēlīberō (“to consider, weigh well”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- +‎ *līberō / lībrō (“to weigh”)), from *libera / libra (“a balance”); see librate. Doublet of deliber.

deliberate (comparative more deliberate, superlative most deliberate)

  1. Done on purpose; intentional.
    Synonyms: purposeful, volitional; see also Thesaurus:intentional
    Antonyms: unintentional, unwitting
    a deliberate attempt to cover up his crime
    • 2004 April 20, Ian Traynor, “Hague rules Srebrenica was act of genocide”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      The massacre of up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995 was an act of genocide in a deliberate attempt by the Bosnian Serb leadership to exterminate part of the Muslim community, appeal judges ruled in a crucial case at the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague yesterday.
  2. Formed with deliberation; carefully considered; not sudden or rash.
    Synonyms: careful, cautious, well-advised; see also Thesaurus:cautious
    a deliberate opinion; a deliberate measure or result
  3. Of a person, weighing facts and arguments with a view to a choice or decision; carefully considering the probable consequences of a step; slow in determining.
    Synonyms: circumspect, thoughtful
    The jury took eight hours to come to its deliberate verdict.
  4. Not hasty or sudden; slow.
    • 1803, William Wirt, The Letters of the British Spy:
      His enunciation was so deliberate.

of a person, carefully considering the probable consequences of a step

carefully considered

not hasty or sudden

deliberate (third-person singular simple present deliberates, present participle deliberating, simple past and past participle deliberated)

  1. (transitive) To consider carefully; to weigh well in the mind.
    It is now time for the jury to deliberate the guilt of the defendant.
  2. (intransitive) To consider the reasons for and against anything; to reflect.

consider carefully

deliberate

  1. second-person plural present and imperative of deliberare

dēlīberāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēlīberō

deliberate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of deliberar combined with te