ratiocination

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ratiocination

  • /ɹætɪˌɒsɪˈneɪʃn̩/ UK
  • /ɹætiˌɑsiˈneɪʃn̩/ US
  • /ɹæʃi-/ US

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French ratiocination, from Latin ratiōcinātiō (“argumentation, reasoning, ratiocination; a syllogism”), from ratiōcinātus (“reckoned”) + -tiō (suffix forming a noun relating to some action or the result of an action). Ratiōcinātus is the perfect passive participle of ratiōcinor (“to compute, reckon; to argue, infer”), from ratiō (“reason, explanation”) (from reor (“to calculate, reckon”), possibly from Proto-Italic *rēōr, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- (“to put in order”)) + -cinor, modelled after vāticinor (“to foretell, prophesy”), equivalent to ratiocinate + -ion.

noun ratiocinations

  1. uncountable, usually Reasoning, conscious deliberate inference; the activity or process of reasoning. But it will be apparent from the refutation of the ſecond Falſification, wherewith you charge the Author of the Letters, that theſe miſchievous conſequences are rightly drawn from the wicked principle layd down by Vaſquez [Gabriel Vásquez] in the ſame place, and accordingly, that that Jeſuit hath no
  2. uncountable, usually Thought or reasoning that is exact, valid and rational. Finally Tao comes to possess the meaning of “rational speech” or “word,” and in this sense it closely resembles the Greek Logos, for in addition to its philosophical significance the term Tao touches a religious chord in the souls of the Chinese just as did the word Logos among the Platonists and th
  3. uncountable, usually A proposition arrived at by such thought. Where the Qur’an has not been explicit, the Hadith has often supplied guidance, providing an intermediate source of knowledge between the text of the Holy Book itself and the ratiocinations of the religious lawyers, the fuqaha’, who had recourse, when all else failed, to such principles as analogica

Similar: reasoning

Thesaurus

noun

Similar: reasoning

Translations

Every language

noun activity or process of reasoning

Españolraciocinación
Portuguêsraciocínio
Françaisraisonnement
Русскийлоги́ческое рассужде́ние logíčeskoje rassuždénije

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MLA

"ratiocination." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ratiocination. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ratiocination. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ratiocination

Chicago

"ratiocination." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ratiocination.

BibTeX
@misc{ratiocination_2026,
  title = {ratiocination},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ratiocination},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}