meditativelyadv.
/ˈmɛdᵻtətᵻvli/, U.S. /ˈmɛdəˌteɪdᵻvli/ In a meditative manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > [adverb]
contemplativelyc1450
contemplative1581
musingly1611
cogitabundly1659
cogitatively1731
meditatingly1753
meditatively1790
contemplatingly1801
musefullya1810
speculatively1883
1743 A. Hill Fanciad Pref. p. iv A mistaken Notion,..that the most celebrated English Conqueror..was not pre-meditatively..the Author of his own unprecedented Victories.]
1790 Bailey's Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. (ed. 25) Meditatively, in a thoughtful Manner.
1814 F. Burney Wanderer III. vi. lvii. 351 Tears started into the eyes of Lady Barbara; while those of Sir Jaspar were fixed, meditatively, upon the head of his crutch.
1858 ‘G. Eliot’ Janet's Repentance xxiii, in Scenes Clerical Life II. 315 After sitting meditatively for some minutes with her eyes unconsciously fixed on the opposite wall, she rose.
1919 V. Woolf Diary (1979) I. 250 She is a wistful, patient, contemplative little creature, examining the fire very meditatively.
1946 A. Christie Hollow xiii. 113 ‘She will come back here for the inquest, of course,’ went on Lady Angkatell, meditatively eating caramel custard.
1990 A. S. Byatt Possession xix. 366 ‘One may conjure real daemons with drawing-room conjuring tricks,’ said my father, meditatively.
2001 S. G. Shumsky Exploring Medit. v. 61 (heading) Meditation for the meditatively challenged.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1790