razón

Forms

razón f (plural razones)^[1] Old Spanish razón almost always has a voiced -z- (Nebrija, Alfonso de Palencia); raçon occurs now and then as a learned spelling, and rezón, influenced by the prefix re-, is found in a document of 1252.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin ratio (“calculation, account; reasoning, reason”), through Old Spanish razon.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun is derived from ratus (“counted, fixed”), the past participle of reor (“to reckon, think”).^[2][5][6] De Vaan reconstructs a Proto-Indo-European root *Hreh₁-, whose original sense “to count” survived in the participle.^[6]

The word is common to the western Romance languages: Portuguese razão, Galician razón, Asturian razón, Catalan raó, Occitan rason, French raison and Italian ragione.^[2][7][1] The Catalan word still had a consonant from Latin /ti/ in radó in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[8]

Its learned doublet is ración, which went from “account” to “portion” and is also recorded in the Cid.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, known from a 14th-century copy) uses it for “words, speech”: „de las sus bocas todos dizían una razón” “from their mouths they all said one thing”.^[9][2][3] The Cortes de Benavente of 1202 use it for a party's case or plea: oída la razón también de la mi parte “once the plea of my side too was heard”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish already had the senses “words, discourse”, “argument”, “cause” (sin razón) and “order, method”, all in Alfonso X's Lapidario.^[10] The 13th-century poem Razón de amor is named after the sense “discourse, poem”.^[9] Autoridades adds the act of reasoning, the “reckoning” of time, and fairness in buying and selling, as in póngase en la razón said to someone who asks too much.^[11] The modern dictionaries add the mathematical sense “ratio” and the colloquial “message”.^[4]

In Puerto Rico, León and Asturias razón means “message, word sent”.^[12][13][14] In Chile it is each turn of a payador in a sung contest.^[15] Baralt condemned perder la razón and matrimonio de razón as French.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses razón for “words”.^[9][3]
• 1202 – the Cortes de Benavente use it for a legal plea.^[9]
• c. 1205–1250 – the poem Razón de amor.^[9]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for “words”, “argument”, “cause” and “method”.^[10]
• c. 1335 – first record of razonamiento.^[3]
• 1517 – the first record from the Americas, in Puerto Rico: a razón de “at the rate of”.^[17]
• 16th century – first record of sinrazón.^[3]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records fairness in prices and “reckoning”.^[11]
• 1855 – Baralt condemns perder la razón as a Gallicism.^[16]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology, from Latin ratio.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. reason, the faculty of thinking.^[4][1]
2. The act of reasoning; reasoning.^[4][1]
3. The words in which a thought is expressed.^[4]
4. An argument given in support of something: Me dio tres razones para no ir.^[4]
5. A cause, motive: ¿Por qué razón has llegado tarde?^[4][1]
6. Rightness, the quality of being right, especially with tener: Tienes razón.^[1][19]
7. Order and method; justice; fairness in prices.^[4]
8. Account, reckoning, as in a razón de “at the rate of”.^[4]
9. (colloquial) A message: Le dejé razón con su vecina.^[4][12]
10. (mathematics) A ratio, the quotient of two quantities.^[4][1]

Word family

• razonar
• razonable
• razonamiento
• sinrazón

Related words

• ración
• racional
• ratio
• raciocinio

Usage notes

Common phrases are tener razón “to be right”, dar la razón “to admit someone is right”, uso de razón “age of reason”, razón de Estado “reason of state” and razón social “company name”.^[1][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 802
3. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. razón
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. razón
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ratiō
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. reor
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ratio
8. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 7, 100
9. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. razón
10. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. razón
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5
12. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. razón
13. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. razón
14. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. razón
15. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. razón
16. ^ a b Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 590
17. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. razón
18. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 844
19. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. razón