Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Use of reason, especially to form conclusions, inferences, or judgments.
  • noun Evidence or arguments used in thinking or argumentation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The use of the faculty of reason; discriminative thought or discussion in regard to a subject; rational consideration.
  • noun A presentation of reasons or arguments; an argumentative statement or expression; a formal discussion.
  • noun Discussion; conversation; discourse.
  • noun Synonyms Reasoning, Argumentation. Reasoning is much broader than argumentation. The latter is confined to one side of the question, or, in another sense, supposes a proposition, supported by arguments on the affirmative side and attacked by arguments on the negative. Reasoning may be upon one side of a proposition, and is then the same as argumentation; but it may also be the method by which one reaches a belief, and thus a way of putting together the results of investigation: as, the reasoning in Euclid, or in Butler's Analogy; the reasoning by which a thief justifies himself in stealing.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act or process of adducing a reason or reasons; manner of presenting one's reasons.
  • noun That which is offered in argument; proofs or reasons when arranged and developed; course of argument.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Action of the verb to reason.
  • noun The deduction of inferences or interpretations from premises; abstract thought; ratiocination.
  • verb Present participle of reason.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective endowed with the capacity to reason
  • noun thinking that is coherent and logical

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