Skip to content

contemplar

to contemplate

verb kohn-tem-PLAHR Less Common

Origin: from Latin contemplari

Also means

to consider

Usage Note

Contemplar can mean gazing at something (contemplar el paisaje — to gaze at the landscape) or, in legal and formal registers, to provide for or include something (la ley contempla este caso — the law covers this case). The second sense is common in official documents and can catch learners off guard.

Examples

"Me quedé contemplando el mar."

Natural Translation

I stayed gazing at the sea.

Explore Spanish by topic