consider
verbAU, UK /kənˈsɪd.ə/ · CA, US /kənˈsɪd.əɹ/
Etymology From Middle English consideren, from Middle French considerer, from Latin considerare.
9 senses
- 1To think about seriously.
- 2To think about something seriously or carefully: to deliberate.
- 3To think about whether one will do (an action); to weigh…
- 4To assign some quality to.
- 5To look at attentively.
- 6To take up as an example.
- 7To debate (or dispose of) a motion.
- 8To have regard to; to take into view or account; to pay…
- 9To believe or opine (that).
1
To think about seriously.
- Consider that we’ve had three major events and the year has hardly begun.
- How can you know everything about everything, if you won't consider any dissent?
2 more examples
- Thenceforth to speculations high or deep / I turned my thoughts, and with capacious mind / Considered all things visible.1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets, […]. Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast’s status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.2014 March 15, “Turn it off”, in The Economist, volume 410, number 8878:
2
To think about something seriously or carefully: to deliberate.
3
To think about whether one will do (an action); to weigh as a possible course of action.
- I’m considering going to the beach tomorrow.
4
To assign some quality to.
- Consider yourself lucky, but consider your opponent skillful.
- I considered the pie undercooked.
4 more examples
- I consider you (to be) an excellent friend.
- "What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society."1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:
- ‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War.[…]’1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- Isaacson reports that Musk’s fractured relationship with Jenna, who is trans, partly led to Musk’s rightward turn toward libertarianism and questioning what he considers the “woke-mind-virus, which is fundamentally antiscience, antimerit, and antihuman.”2023 September 12, Paul Glader, “Four takeaways from Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk”, in CNN:
5
To look at attentively.
- She sat there for a moment, considering him.
- She considereth a field, and buyeth it.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 31:16:
6
To take up as an example.
- Consider a triangle having three equal sides.
- Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:
7
Government, Parliamentary procedure To debate (or dispose of) a motion.
- This body will now consider the proposed amendments to Section 453 of the zoning code.
8
To have regard to; to take into view or account; to pay due attention to; to respect.
- He never seems to consider the feelings of others.
- Consider, sir, the chance of war: the day / Was yours by accident.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
1 more example
- February 21, 1679, William Temple, letter to the Lord Treasurer England could grow into a posture of being more united at home, and more considered abroad.
9
To believe or opine (that).
- Mother very rightly resented the slightest hint of condescension. She considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom,[…].1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
- What is clear is that the courts in both Alberta and Ontario consider that there must be some preliminary assessment of the evidence of alleged breaches of the relevant Act when considering whether a freeze order is justified at the investigation stage.2021 October 1, J. Susan Griffin, “Party A v. British Columbia (Securities Commission), 2021 BCCA 358”, in CanLII, retrieved 03 Oct 2021:
- Derived terms
- disconsider, foreconsider, misconsider, preconsider
- Related terms
- all things considered, considerable, considerate, consideration, considerer, consider it done, reconsider