ratiocinative

English

WOTD – 27 January 2010

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɹæʃ.ɪˈɑ.səˌneɪ.tɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

ratiocinative (comparative more ratiocinative, superlative most ratiocinative)

1. Pertaining to or characterized by ratiocination, discursive thinking, or inferential knowledge.
   • 1888, H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, volume I, Theosophical University Press, page 1:

     Only those who realise how far Intuition soars above the tardy processes of ratiocinative thought can form the faintest conception […]

   • 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine, Faber, page 80:

     […] bloodthirsty interest in the ratiocinative faculty […]

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 225:

     If a person is developed merely in an intellectual, ratiocinative way, then he will be a contradictory mix of cleverness and savagery.

Related terms

• ratiocinate
• ratiocination

Translations

Pertaining to or characterized by ratiocination

• Finnish: järkiperäinen (fi)
• French: ratiocinatif (fr)
• Latin: ratiocinativus
• Spanish: raciocinativo

French

Adjective

ratiocinative

1. feminine singular of ratiocinatif

Latin

Adjective

ratiōcinātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of ratiōcinātīvus