Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RU'MIN-ATE, v.i. [Fr. ruminer; L. rumino, from rumen, the cud; W. rhum, that swells out.]

1. To chew the cud; to chew again what has been slightly chewed and swallowed. Oxen, sheep, deer, goats, camels, hares and squirrels ruminate in fact; other animals, as moles, bees, crickets, beetles, crabs, &c. only appear to ruminate. Peyer. Encyc. The only animals endowed with the genuine faculty of rumination, are the Ruminantia, or cloven-hoofed quadrupeds, (Pecora, Linnæus;) but the hare, although its stomach is differently organized, is an occasional and partial ruminant. Ed. Encyc.
2. To muse; to meditate; to think again and again; to ponder. It is natural to ruminate on misfortunes. He practices a slow meditation, and ruminates on the subject. Watts.