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Origin and history of deliberate

deliberate(adj.)

early 15c., "done with careful consideration," from Latin deliberatus "resolved upon, determined," past participle of deliberare "consider carefully, consult," literally "weigh well," from de, here probably "entirely" (see de-) + -liberare, altered (probably by influence of liberare "to free, liberate") from librare "to balance, make level," from libra "pair of scales, a balance" (see Libra). Meaning "characterized by slowness in decision, consciously unhurried" is attested by 1590s. Related: Deliberateness.

deliberate(v.)

1540s, "weigh in the mind, consider carefully;" 1550s, "discuss and examine the reasons for or against," from Latin deliberatus, past participle of deliberare "consider carefully, consult," literally "weigh well," from de, here probably "entirely" (see de-) + -liberare, altered (probably by influence of liberare "to free, liberate") from librare "to balance, make level," from libra "pair of scales, a balance" (see Libra). Related: Deliberated; deliberating. The earlier form of the verb in English was deliberen (late 14c.), from Old French deliberer and directly from Latin deliberare.

also from 1540s

Entries linking to deliberate

Libra(n.)

zodiac constellation represented by a pair of scales, late Old English, from Latin libra "a balance, pair of scales," also "pound (unit of weight)," from Proto-Italic *leithra- "pound." De Vaan compares Greek litra "name of a Sicilian coin," which "was probably borrowed from an Italic language at the stage containing [-thr-]."

Not a separate constellation in ancient Greece, where it was khelae, "the claws" of adjacent Skorpios. Nativized in Old Norse as skala-merki. Meaning "person born under the sign of Libra" is from 1894. Related: Libral; Libran.

deliberately(adv.)

late 15c., "with due consideration, with a set purpose," from deliberate (adj.) + -ly (2).

de-

active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.

As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.

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    Trends of deliberate

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    debate
    late 14c., "to quarrel, dispute," also "to combat, fight, make war" (senses now archaic), also "discuss, deliberate upon the pros and cons of," from Old French debatre (13c., Modern French débattre), originally "to fight," from de- "down, completely" (see de-) + batre "to beat,"
    consider
    late 14c., consideren, "to fix the mind upon for careful examination, meditate upon," also "view attentively, scrutinize; not to be negligent of," from Old French considerer (13c.) "reflect on, consider, study," from Latin considerare "to look at closely, observe," probably liter
    consultation
    past-participle stem of consultare "to consult, ask counsel of; reflect, consider maturely," frequentative of consulere "to deliberate...derivative of consul (we would rather expect consulare), it appears that the verb was original and meant 'to get together, deliberate...
    advisement
    examination, inspection, observation," from Old French avisement "consideration, reflection; counsel, advice," from aviser "deliberate...
    destruct
    destroy," 1958, probably a back-formation from destruction in the jargon of U.S. aerospace and defense workers to refer to deliberate...
    moratorium
    General sense of "a postponement, deliberate temporary suspension" is recorded by 1932. Related: Moratorial....
    premeditate
    "think about and contrive beforehand," 1540s, from pre- + meditate, or a back formation from premeditation, or else from Latin praemeditatus, past participle of praemeditari "to consider beforehand," from prae "before" (see pre-) + meditari "to consider," from a frequentative for
    see
    Middle English sēn, from Old English seon (Anglian sean) "be or become aware of by means of the eye; look, behold;" also "perceive mentally, understand; experience; visit (a place); inspect" (contracted class V strong verb; past tense seah, past participle sewen), from Proto-Germ
    overturn
    early 13c., of a wheel, "to rotate, roll over," from over- + turn (v.). Attested from c. 1300 in general transitive sense "to throw over violently;" figurative meaning "to ruin, destroy" is from late 14c. Of judicial decisions, "to reverse," it is attested from 1826. Related: Ove

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