deliberate
Courts often deliberate deliberate acts committed by defendants.
The sentence describes how courts carefully consider intentional acts committed by defendants.
Meanings
to think about carefully, especially before making a decision; to weigh options
- The jury deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict.
- We deliberated over the offer all weekend.
done consciously and intentionally; not accidental
- The damage was deliberate, not accidental.
- She gave a deliberate, measured response.
Word origin
From Latin dēlīberāre ('to weigh in mind, consider carefully'), formed from dē- ('completely') + līberāre, from lībra ('balance, scale'). The image is of weighing things on a balance scale to consider them. The verb-adjective distinction in modern English is the same /eɪt/-vs-/ət/ ending pattern as 'separate', 'moderate', 'appropriate', and 'estimate'.
Fun fact
The Latin root lībra ('balance, scale') is the same word that gives us 'libra' (the zodiac sign of the scales) and the abbreviation 'lb.' for pound (originally libra pondo, 'a pound by weight'). To 'deliberate' is literally to weigh things in your mind.