ponder (v.)

mid-14c., ponderen, "to estimate the worth of, to appraise" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French ponderer "to weigh, poise" (14c., Modern French pondérer) and directly from Latin ponderare "ponder, consider, reflect," literally "to weigh," from pondus (genitive ponderis) "weight," from stem of pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin"). Meaning "to judge (a matter or action) mentally, weigh carefully in the mind" is attested from late 14c. Related: Pondered; pondering; ponderation (1550s in the mental sense).