different between contemplative vs circumspect

English

Etymology

From Old French contemplatif, from the participle stem of Latin contempl?re.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /k?n?t?mpl?t?v/, /?k?nt?mpl?t?v/

Adjective

contemplative (comparative more contemplative, superlative most contemplative)

1. Inclined to contemplate; introspective and thoughtful; meditative.
   • 1873, John Stuart Mill, Autobiography, Chapter 5:

     Compared with the greatest poets, he may be said to be the poet of unpoetical natures, possessed of quiet and contemplative tastes. But unpoetical natures are precisely those which require poetic cultivation. This cultivation Wordsworth is much more fitted to give, than poets who are intrinsically far more poets than he.

2. Pertaining to a religious contemplative, or a contemplative religious orders, especially the Roman Catholic varieties.
   • 1870, Charles Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Chapter 3:

     Whether the nuns of yore, being of a submissive rather than a stiff-necked generation, habitually bent their contemplative heads to avoid collision with the beams in the low ceilings of the many chambers of their House [...] may be matters of interest to its haunting ghosts (if any), but constitute no item in Miss Twinkleton's half-yearly accounts.

3. Relating to, or having the power of, contemplation.

   contemplative faculties

Synonyms

• (inclined to contemplate): See Thesaurus:contemplative

Derived terms

• contemplatively

Related terms

• contemplate

Translations

Noun

contemplative (plural contemplatives)

1. Someone who has dedicated themselves to religious contemplation.
   • 2009, Karen Armstrong, The Case for God, Vintage 2010, p. 112:

     The contemplative must not expect exotic feelings, visions or heavenly voices; these did not come from God but from his own fevered imagination and would merely distract him from his true objective [...].

French

Adjective

contemplative

1. feminine singular of contemplatif

Italian

Adjective

contemplative

1. feminine plural of contemplativo

Anagrams

• contemplatevi

Latin

Adjective

contempl?t?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of contempl?t?vus

English

Etymology

From Latin circumspect? (“look around”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??.k?m.sp?kt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?.k?m.sp?kt/

Adjective

circumspect (comparative more circumspect, superlative most circumspect)

1. Carefully aware of all circumstances; considerate of all that is pertinent.

   Synonyms: cautious, chary, prudent, thoughtful, vigilant, wary

Derived terms

• circumspectly
• circumspective

Related terms

• circumspection

Translations