deliberate

From Latin deliberatus, past participle of delibero (“I consider, weigh well”), from de + *libero, libro (“I weigh”), from *libera, libra (“a balance”); see librate.

• (adjective):
  • enPR: dĭlĭbʹərət, IPA^(key): /dɪˈlɪbəɹət/
  • enPR: dəlĭbʹərət, IPA^(key): /dəˈlɪbəɹət/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (verb):
  • enPR: dĭlĭbʹərāt, IPA^(key): /dɪˈlɪbəɹeɪt/
  • enPR: dəlĭbʹərāt, IPA^(key): /dəˈlɪbəɹeɪt/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Hyphenation: de‧lib‧er‧ate

deliberate (comparative more deliberate, superlative most deliberate)

1. Done on purpose; intentional.

   Tripping me was deliberate action.

2. 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.

   The jury took eight hours to come to its deliberate verdict.

   Synonym: circumspect

3. Formed with deliberation; carefully considered; not sudden or rash.

   a deliberate opinion; a deliberate measure or result

   Synonyms: careful, cautious, well-advised

   • 1603-4, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

     settled visage and deliberate word

4. Not hasty or sudden; slow.
   • 1803, William Wirt, The Letters of the British Spy

     His enunciation was so deliberate.

• (intentional): unwitting

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

1. To consider carefully.

   It is now time for the jury to deliberate the guilt of the defendant.

• deliberation
• deliberative

• deliberate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• deliberate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• deliberate at OneLook Dictionary Search

deliberate

1. second-person plural present tense and imperative of deliberare

dēlīberāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēlīberō

• deliberate in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)