ruminant means chewing cud. It carries an Arena rating of 1817, earned across 39 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ruminant ranks #338 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,356 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,113 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,214 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
ruminant is pronounced /ˈɹuːmɪnənt/.
Why “ruminant” is a great word
RUMINANT — [Adjective, Noun] An animal that chews cud, or figuratively, a mind engaged in deep, repetitive thought. From the Latin rūmināns, present participle of rūminārī ("to chew the cud, to ruminate"), from rūmen ("throat, gullet, rumen"). Unlike "contemplate"—which suggests deliberate, focused consideration—or "herbivore"—a broad classification for plant-eaters—"ruminant" implies a passive, cyclical, and almost physiological process of mental digestion. It is the slow, lateral grind of a cow's jaw in a twilight field; the same fretful thought returning on a sleepless 3 a.m. orbit; the silent, methodical processing of experience that turns memory into understanding. The mind, too, has its rumen, where we digest what we cannot yet swallow.
Etymology
From Latin rūmināns, rūminantem, present participle of rūminārī (“to chew the cud, ruminate”), from rūmen (“throat, gullet, rumen (first stomach of a ruminant)”).
adj
- Chewing cud.
- Pondering; ruminative.e.g.““I wonder what a paradox is,” remarked the priest in a ruminant manner.”
noun
- Any artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud in the suborder Ruminantia, such as cattle or deer.e.g.“Flesh behind steel and glass is unprotected
From enemies that whisper to the blood;
The scratch forgotten is the scratch infected;
The ruminant, reason, chews a poisoned cud.” — 1941, Theodore Roethke, “Prognosis”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, pag
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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