ratiocination

English

Etymology

From French ratiocination, from Latin ratiocinatio (“reasoning, argumentation, a syllogism”), from ratiocinatus, past participle of ratiocinari (“to reason”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ratɪˌɒsɪˈneɪʃn/

Noun

ratiocination (plural ratiocinations)

1. Reasoning, conscious deliberate inference; the activity or process of reasoning.
   • 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1, canto 1

     He'd run in debt by disputation, \ And pay with ratiocination.

   • 1916, New York Times, "Suffrage at Chicago"

     It is hard to follow the kinks of woman suffrage ratiocination.

2. Thought or reasoning that is exact, valid and rational.
3. A proposition arrived at by such thought.

Synonyms

• reasoning

Related terms

• ratiocinate
• ratiocinative
• ratiocinatory

Translations

process of reasoning

• Catalan: raciocinació (ca) f
• Finnish: järkeily (fi)

• Latin: ratiocinatio (la) f
• Russian: логическое рассуждение (logíčeskoje rassuždénije) n
• Spanish: razonamiento (es) m

See also

• logic
• syllogism

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1989

External links

• ratiocination in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• ratiocination in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911