reason English · revision 3605

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200 (Ancrene Riwle)|origins=la rērī}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈriː.zᵊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|reisun]] (later [[m|enm|resoun]]), [[bor|xno|resoun]], Old French [[m|fro|reson]] or [[m|fro|raison]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from a Romance form of [[la|ratiō|t=reckoning, account; understanding, motive, cause]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[m|la|ratus]], the past participle of [[m|la|rērī|t=to reckon, think]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Hoad 1986) which Etymonline derives from [[ine-pro|*re-|t=to reason, count]].^(Etymonline) It is a [[doublet]] of [[ratio]] and [[ration]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A cause or motive for an action, an explanation, the ability to think: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Sanity” is from the late 13th century, and “a reasonable view” and “grounds for action” from about 1300.^(Etymonline) The Middle English sense “meaning, sense” survives in ''rhyme or reason''.^(Etymonline) The verb first meant “to question, argue with” before 1325,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and “to think logically” from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) ''Reasonable'' is found in 1303 in Mannyng, and ''reasoning'' about 1380, in Chaucer.^(Barnhart 1988) A ''reason of state'' is from the 1610s.^(Etymonline) The Enlightenment gave ''reason'' the sense of a universal intelligence shared by all minds, and Tom Paine's ''The Age of Reason'' appeared in 1794.^(Etymonline) ''Theirs not to reason why'' comes from Tennyson's ''The Charge of the Light Brigade''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – a cause; the power to think (''Ancrene Riwle'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 13th century – sanity.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – grounds for action.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1303 – ''reasonable'' (Mannyng).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1325 – verb, to argue (''Cursor Mundi'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – ''reasoning'' (Chaucer).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – to think logically.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1794 – ''The Age of Reason''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The basis or [[motive]] for an action, decision or belief.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A statement explaining or justifying something.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # An underlying fact or cause.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The capacity for logical thought; [[intelligence]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Good judgement; [[sanity]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To think logically; to draw conclusions.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To talk or argue logically and persuasively; to persuade by reasons.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[reasoner]]

+ * [[nonreason]]

+ * [[subreason]]

+ * [[reasonless]]

+ * [[unreason]]

+ * [[outreason]]

+ * [[nonreasoning]]

+ * [[unreasoning]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[reasonable]]

+ * [[unreasonable]]

+ * [[ratio]]

+ * [[ration]]

+ * [[rate]]

+ * [[ratify]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary contrasts ''reason'', the power of logical thought, with ''intuition'', ''understanding'' and ''judgment''.^(AHD) A separate word ''reason'', “a wall plate”, is an altered form of ''rasen'', from the mid-16th century.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}