irrational

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin irratiōnālis, from ir- + ratiōnālis.

PronunciationEdit

  • enPR: ĭră'sh(ə)nəl, IPA(key): /ɪˈɹæʃ.(ə.)nəl/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -æʃənəl

AdjectiveEdit

irrational (comparative more irrational, superlative most irrational)

  1. Not rational; unfounded or nonsensical.
    an irrational decision
    • July 18, 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[1]
      Where the Joker preys on our fears of random, irrational acts of terror, Bane has an all-consuming, dictatorial agenda that’s more stable and permanent, a New World Order that’s been planned out with the precision of a military coup.
  2. (mathematics, arithmetic, number theory, not comparable) Of a real number, that cannot be written as the ratio of two integers.
    The number π is irrational.
    Antonym: rational
    Hyponyms: transcendental, uncomputable

Derived termsEdit

CollocationsEdit

TranslationsEdit

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NounEdit

irrational (plural irrationals)

  1. A real number that can not be expressed as the quotient of two integers, an irrational number.
    • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.24:
      The square root of 2, which was the first irrational to be discovered, was known to the early Pythagoreans, and ingenious methods of approximating to its value were discovered.

TranslationsEdit

Further readingEdit

GermanEdit

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈɪʁat͡si̯onaːl/, /ɪʁat͡si̯oˈnaːl/
  • (file)

AdjectiveEdit

irrational (strong nominative masculine singular irrationaler, comparative irrationaler, superlative am irrationalsten)

  1. irrational

DeclensionEdit