Link Centre Dictionary

reason

rea·son

UK/ˈɹiːzən/ US/ˈɹʷɪi̯zən] ~ [ˈɹʷɪi̯zn̩/ very common
noun (6) verb (3)

noun

1.

a rational motive for a belief or action

  • “the reason that war was declared”
  • “the grounds for their declaration”
Synonyms
2.

an explanation of the cause of some phenomenon

  • “the reason a steady state was never reached was that the back pressure built up too slowly”
3.

the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination

  • “we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil”
Synonyms
4.

the state of having good sense and sound judgment

  • “his rationality may have been impaired”
  • “he had to rely less on reason than on rousing their emotions”
Synonyms
5.

a justification for something existing or happening

  • “he had no cause to complain”
  • “they had good reason to rejoice”
Synonyms
6.

a fact that logically justifies some premise or conclusion

  • “there is reason to believe he is lying”

verb

1.

decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion

  • “We reasoned that it was cheaper to rent than to buy a house”
Synonyms
2.

present reasons and arguments

Synonyms
3.

think logically

  • “The children must learn to reason”

Origin

From Middle English resoun, reson, from Anglo-Norman raisun (Old French raison), from Latin ratiō, from ratus, past participle of reor (“reckon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- (“to think”), reanalysed root of *h₂er- (“to put together”). Displaced native Middle English reden (found in compounds), from Old English rǣden (“condition, stipulation, calculation, direction”), from the same Proto-Indo-European source (compare West Frisian reden (“reason”), Dutch reden (“reason”)). Doublet of ration and ratio.

Phrases

  • 13th reason
  • age of reason
  • beyond a reason of a doubt
  • beyond reason of a doubt
  • by reason of
  • compassionate reason
  • everything happens for a reason
  • for no good reason
  • reason down Terms derived from the verb “reason”
  • reason out Terms derived from the verb “reason”
  • reason piece
  • reason with Terms derived from the verb “reason”

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.