reason

Meanings

Noun

• A cause:
• Rational thinking (or the capacity for it); the cognitive faculties, collectively, of conception, judgment, deduction and intuition.
• Something reasonable, in accordance with thought; justice.
• Ratio; proportion.

Verb

• To deduce or come to a conclusion by being rational
• To perform a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to argue.
• To converse; to compare opinions.
• To arrange and present the reasons for or against; to examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss.
• To support with reasons, as a request.
• To persuade by reasoning or argument.
• To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons.
• To find by logical process; to explain or justify by reason or argument.

Related

Similar words

• cause
• rationale, motive
• excuse

Origin

• From Middle English resoun, reson, from Anglo-Norman raisun (Old French raison), from Latin ratiō, from ratus, past participle of reor, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- ("to think"), reanalysed root of *h₂er-. ration, and ratio.