reasoning

Etymology

It is formed from English reason + -ing,^[2][3] as resoninge, the gerund of resonen.^[4][5] The verb is from Old French resoner, also raisoner,^[3][6] from Late Latin ratiōnō (“to discourse”),^[3] from Latin ratiō (“reckoning, understanding”), from ratus, the past participle of reor (“to reckon, think”), from Proto-Indo-European *re- (“to reason, count”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of reasoning, especially deducing one judgement from others: about 1400, in a copy of Chaucer's translation of Boethius, composed about 1380.^[2] Etymonline likewise says the late 14th century,^[3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged the 14th century,^[4] and Dictionary.com 1325–75.^[5] Chaucer's works have the gerund three times, with the sense "reasoning".^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The verbal noun is older in its logical sense than the verb it comes from: Etymonline dates the verb's "to think logically" only to the 1590s, the earlier verb meaning to question or challenge.^[3] A particular instance of reasoning, a presentation of arguments, is recorded before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac.^[2][3] The adjective, "that reasons", is recorded about 1454, in Pecock,^[2] and the Middle English Dictionary also has the participle for "possessing the power of reason, rational".^[6] Johnson (1755) gave the noun simply as "argument", quoting Addison on "strong reasonings".^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – the action of reasoning, especially of deducing a judgement.^[2]
• before 1425 – an instance of reasoning; an argument.^[2]
• c. 1454 – adjective, that reasons.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The use of reason, especially the drawing of conclusions from facts or evidence.^[10][4][2]
2. The arguments put forward in a particular case: I could not follow her reasoning on the budget.^[10][4][2]

Adjective

1. That reasons; having the power of reason, rational.^[2][6]

Word family

• reasoningly

Related words

• reasonable
• reasoner
• rational
• ratio

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
8. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins