unreasonable English · revision 39878

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1384, Wycliffite Bible}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʌnˈɹiːz.(ə)nə.bl̩/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed [[af|en|un-|reasonable]] in English,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Dictionary.com 2016) at first partly after the post-classical Latin adjective [[m|la-med|irrationabilis]].^(OED 2026) Middle English spelled it [[m|enm|unresonable]], with many variant spellings.^(MED)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Not having the faculty of reason, said of animals or people: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) and mid-14th century in Etymonline, which glosses the first use as irrational, not grounded in reason.^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Within a few years the word was used of what goes beyond the limits of the sensible, excessive in amount or degree, first in Trevisa's ''Polychronicon'' (before 1387),^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and of ideas and actions not guided by good sense, in Gower (before 1393).^(OED 2026) Of a person behaving irrationally it is recorded from about 1400 in the ''Cursor Mundi''.^(OED 2026) A sense "unfair, unjustifiable" lasted from about 1440 to 1741.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) gave its first sense as "exorbitant; claiming more than is fit", quoting Dryden's view that it would be ''unreasonable to limit a translator to the narrow compass of his author's words''.^(Johnson 1755) The sense "not endowed with reason", as in ''unreasonable beasts'', is now rare.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) An adverbial use, meaning excessively, appeared in 1535 and is now rare too.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1384 – lacking the faculty of reason.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1387 – excessive.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * a1393 – not guided by good sense; illogical.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1400 – of a person, acting irrationally.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1440 – unfair, unjustifiable (obsolete by 1741).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1535 – the adverb, excessively.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not guided by [[reason]] or good sense; refusing to listen to reason: ''The manager was being completely unreasonable about the deadline.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Going beyond what is fair or sensible; [[excessive]]: ''an unreasonable rent''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Not having the faculty of reason.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unreasonableness]]

+ * [[unreasonably]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[reasonable]]

+ * [[reason]]

+ * [[irrational]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}