raison French · revision 17477

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 980, Passion de Clermont (raizun)|origins=la reor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁɛ.zɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ʁe.zɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''raison''' ''f'' (plural raisons)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|raison]], [[inh|la|ratiō|t=reckoning, account; reason]] (accusative “ratiōnem”).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|10, 105a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun is from “ratum”, the supine of [[m|la|reor|t=to reckon, think]], itself old and of unknown origin.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) “Ratio” first meant “account, calculation”, then the faculty of reckoning and reasoning, and in philosophy it translated [[grc|λόγος|tr=lógos]], which meant both “account” and “reason”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cicero used it for the argument that justifies an action, whence Medieval Latin “dispute, discussion” (about 600) and Old French “speech, discourse”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Its learned doublet is [[ration]].^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[it|ragione]], [[oc|rason]], [[es|razón]] and [[pt|razão]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ About 980 the ''Passion'' of Clermont opens with ''vera raizun'', “a true account”, in the sense “speech, story”; the same text has ''de raizon'' “rightly”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the 12th century the word had most of the senses of Latin ''ratio''.^(DHLF 1992) The sense “what is right, just” gave ''est raison que'' “it is right that” (about 1130) and ''avoir raison'' (about 1180), as opposed to ''tort''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1170 it named the faculty of judging well and the discursive intellect, as in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi) The sense “account, reckoning” survived in the ''livre de raison'', a household account book, until the 16th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Raison'' “cause, motive” is found about 1112.^(TLFi) Bloch and Wartburg note that the Middle Ages confused Cicero's distinction between ''ratio'', the reason one gives, and ''causa'', the real cause; the borrowing of [[cause]] at the Renaissance restored it.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Later phrases include ''âge de raison'' (1690), ''mariage de raison'' (1826) and ''raison pure'' from Kant (1810).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Raizun'' “account, story” in the ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1112 – The sense “cause, motive”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1130 – ''Est raison que'' “it is right that”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – The faculty of judgement, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1180 – ''Avoir raison'' in Marie de France.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – ''Perdre la raison''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''L'âge de raison'' in Bossuet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1826 – ''Mariage de raison'' in Scribe.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|reason]]: the faculty of thinking and judging: ''la raison et la foi''.^(Le Robert)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Good sense, sanity: ''perdre la raison'', ''entendre raison''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # A cause, motive: ''pour quelle raison ?'', ''en raison de''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # An argument, justification: ''de bonnes raisons''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''Avoir raison'': to be right, ''donner raison à'': to side with.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The common difference or ratio of a progression.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Raison sociale'': the registered name of a firm.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[arraisonner]]

+ * [[déraison]]

+ * [[raisonner]]

+ * [[raisonnable]]

+ * [[irraisonné]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ration]]

+ * [[rationnel]]

+ * [[la|ratiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}