contemplate: [16] Etymologically, to contemplate something is to observe it in a ‘temple’. The word comes from the past participle of Latin contemplārī, a compound verb formed from the intensive prefix com- and templum. This word, source of course of English temple, originally signified a space marked out by augurs (priests in ancient Rome who interpreted omens) for making observations. Hence contemplārī originally meant ‘observe omens carefully’, but its application soon became more general. => temple[contemplate etymology, contemplate origin, 英语词源]