See also: rațional

English edit

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

  • enPR: ră'sh(ə)nəl, IPA(key): /ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəl/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -æʃənəl

Etymology 1 edit

From Old French rationel, rational, from Latin rationalis (of or belonging to reason, rational, reasonable; having a ratio), from ratio (reason; calculation).

Adjective edit

rational (comparative more rational, superlative most rational)

  1. Capable of reasoning.
    Man is a rational creature.
    • 2001, Mark Sainsbury, chapter 1, in Logical Forms — An Introduction to Philosophical Logic, 2nd edition, Blackwell Publishing, →ISBN, §7, page 32:
      The utility of valid arguments is a monument to our frailty: to the fact that we are not completely rational beings.
  2. Logically sound; not self-contradictory or otherwise absurd.
    His statements were quite rational.
  3. (of a person or personal characteristics) Healthy or balanced intellectually; exhibiting reasonableness.
    rational conduct
    • 1867 C. Handfield Jones, Case Of Low Fever: Delirium: Incomplete Dementia. The British Medical Journal Vol. 2, No. 344, Aug. 3
      Temperature 99.8 degrees. Pulse 104. She was quite conscious and rational at times, at others very noisy.
    • 2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:
      The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason. The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy.
  4. (mathematics, arithmetic, number theory, not comparable) Of a number, capable of being expressed as the ratio of two integers.
    ¾ is a rational number, but √2 is an irrational number.
  5. (mathematics, arithmetic, not comparable) Of an algebraic expression, capable of being expressed as the ratio of two polynomials.
  6. (chemistry) Expressing the type, structure, relations, and reactions of a compound; graphic; said of formulae.
  7. (physics) Expressing a physical object.
    A rational table is physical, a written table is neither.
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit

Noun edit

rational (plural rationals)

  1. (mathematics) A rational number: a number that can be expressed as the quotient of two integers.
    The quotient of two rationals is again a rational.
Translations edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Old French rational, from Medieval Latin rationale (a pontifical stole, a pallium, an ornament worn over the chasuble), neuter of Latin rationalis (rational), for which see the first etymology. Translation of λογεῖον (logeîon) or perhaps λόγιον (lógion, oracle) in the Septuagint version of Exodus 28.

Noun edit

rational (plural rationals)

  1. (historical) The breastplate worn by Israelite high priests.
Translations edit

References edit

Further reading edit

  • "rational" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 252.

Anagrams edit

French edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

rational f (plural rationaux)

  1. rationale (religious clothing)

Further reading edit

German edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin rationalis.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˌʁat͡si̯oˈnaːl]
  • Hyphenation: ra‧ti‧o‧nal
  • (file)

Adjective edit

rational (strong nominative masculine singular rationaler, comparative rationaler, superlative am rationalsten)

  1. rational

Declension edit

Further reading edit

  • rational” in Duden online
  • rational” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache