ragionevole

Forms

ragionevole m or f by sense (plural ragionevoli, superlative ragionevolissimo, adverb ragionevolmente)^[1] Old variants include ragionevile and ragionebole.^[2][1] The earliest form is rasonevole.^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Italian ragione + -evole, the suffix of adjectives such as lodevole and notevole.^[4][5][6] Treccani and Gabrielli describe it as a remaking of Latin ratiōnābilis (“endowed with reason; reasonable”) after the Italian noun, and Wiktionary takes it as inherited from the Latin word, which it labels Late Latin.^[6][7][1] The Latin adjective is formed from ratiō (“reckoning; reason”) with the suffix -bilis.^[8][1]

The Latin noun is derived from reor (“to reckon, compute”), a verb of uncertain origin; it first meant “account, calculation” and only later “reason”.^[3][8][1] The same Latin adjective lies behind French raisonnable.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's earliest record is the form rasonevole in 1281, in the Rule of the Servants of the Virgin, in the sense “just, fitting”.^[3] Before 1294 Guittone d'Arezzo uses ragionevole of a being “endowed with reason”, and at the end of the 13th century the Novellino applies it to arguments that agree with reason: Proporremo dinanzi da te le nostre ragionevoli ragioni (“we shall set our reasonable arguments before you”).^[3] Zingarelli dates the word to about 1261.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The old senses were fixed early: “gifted with reason”, said of people and of the soul, “agreeing with reason”, said of things, and “just, fitting”.^[3] Animale ragionevole, the rational animal, is the phrase for the human being.^[4][11] Florio's dictionary of 1598 records the sense “having the use of reason”.^[3] Tommaseo quotes Boccaccio and Buti for the forms ragionevole and ragionevile.^[2]

In modern use the word describes a person who listens to reason and is moderate in demands and judgements, a doubt or fear that is well founded, and a price or amount that is fair and not excessive.^[4][5][6] The older sense “rational” in the technical sense is obsolete.^[10]

Timeline

• 1281 – Rasonevole “just, fitting” appears in the Rule of the Servants of the Virgin.^[3]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the word for “endowed with reason”.^[3]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino speaks of ragionevoli ragioni.^[3]
• 14th century – Ragionevole “just” appears in the Ammaestramenti degli antichi.^[3]
• 1598 – Florio records the sense “having the use of reason”.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Endowed with reason; rational: Solo l'essere umano è considerato ragionevole.^{[4][11][5][1]}
2. Of a person, guided by reason; sensible, balanced and moderate in demands or judgements: Su, sii ragionevole e torna a casa.^{[4][5][10][1]}
3. Of thoughts, words or actions, in keeping with reason or good sense; well founded, justified: Il suo timore mi sembra del tutto ragionevole.^{[4][11][12][1]}
4. Of a fair size or amount, not excessive: Abbiamo trovato una stanza a un costo ragionevole.^{[4][11][5][1]}

Word family

• ragionevolmente
• ragionevolezza
• irragionevole

Related words

• ragione
• razionale
• Latin ratiōnābilis
• French raisonnable

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
8. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana