razonable

Forms

razonable m or f (masculine and feminine plural razonables)^[1] Old Spanish texts also write rrazonable.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin ratiōnābilis (“reasonable; rational”), formed on ratiō (“reckoning; reason”) with the suffix -ābilis.^[4][1] Corominas lists it among the derivatives of razón that all the western Romance languages share, and Wiktionary and Wikcionario also analyse it as from Spanish razón + -able.^[5][6][1][7]

Its Romance counterparts are Portuguese razoável, Catalan raonable, Occitan rasonable, French raisonnable and Italian ragionevole.^[1]

The Latin noun is derived from reor (“to think, reckon”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- (“to think”).^[8][1] The original meaning “to count” survives in ratus (“counted; ratified”), and the Germanic cognates include Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉 (raþjo, “number, account”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first reliable record in the CDH is the Fueros de Aragón of 1247, which allow a longer delay por alguna razon razonable “for some reasonable cause”, such as witnesses who live far away or are ill.^[3] Corominas dates the word only from the end of the 14th century, in López de Ayala's Rimado de Palacio, with the sense “rational”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word meant both “endowed with reason” and “fair, conforming to reason”: the Judizios de las estrellas (1254) divide the signs of the zodiac into mute ones and razonables, the Bocados de oro speak of the alma razonable “rational soul”, and the Partidas use it for what is just.^[9][3] The sense “rational” is now obsolete, and the DLE refers it to racional.^[4]

The Diccionario de Autoridades added “middling, with some merit in its kind, though not complete”, illustrated with Calderón's ironic Razonables primas tengo “I have passable cousins”.^[10] This sense of a fair or moderate amount was already in use in the Americas: in 1519 a spring in Puerto Rico was llena de agua dulce e razonable “full of sweet and decent water”.^[11] Today the word means “sensible, in accordance with reason” and “moderate, not excessive”, as of a price or distance.^[4][12]

Timeline

• 1247 – the Fueros de Aragón speak of a razon razonable.^[3]
• c. 1250 – the Vidal Mayor, an Aragonese law book, uses it of what is fair.^[3]
• 1254 – the Judizios de las estrellas call some signs of the zodiac razonables “rational”.^[9]
• late 14th century – López de Ayala's Rimado de Palacio, Corominas's first record.^[5][6]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin rationalis and rationabilis.^[13]
• 1519 – first record from the Americas, in Puerto Rico.^[11]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades adds the sense “middling”.^[10]
• 1817 – the Academy marks the sense “rational” as old.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. reasonable: suitable, in accordance with reason: Me parece una propuesta razonable.^[4][12]
2. moderate, not excessive or exaggerated: Llegamos con un margen de tiempo razonable.^[4][15]
3. Of a person: sensible, willing to listen to reason: Sé razonable y descansa un poco.^[12][15]
4. (obsolete) rational (racional).^[4]

Related words

• razón
• razonar
• racional
• Late Latin ratiōnābilis
• French raisonnable

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. razonable
3. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. razonable
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. razonable
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 802
6. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. razón
7. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. razonable
8. ^ 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
9. ^ 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. razonable
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 501
11. ^ a b 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. razonable
12. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. razonable
13. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. razonable
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 731
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. razonable