| 释义 |
rationalize, v.|ˈræʃənəlaɪz|
[f. rational a.]
1. a. trans. To render conformable to reason; to explain on a rational basis.
1803Lett. Miss Riversdale II. 79 This interesting sentiment [sc. friendship]..secures the permanence of happiness, by rationalizing (if I may use such a word) its origin. 1817Coleridge Biog. Lit. II. xviii. 89 The second Olympic composed for the..purpose of rationalizing the Theban Eagle. 1846Grote Greece i. xvi. I. 533 The disposition of Herodotus to rationalise the miraculous narratives of the current mythes. 1883H. Spencer in Contemp. Rev. XLIII. 9 When life has been duly rationalized by science..care of the body is imperative. 1935Encycl. Social Sci. XIII. 116/1 The problem was to rationalize human social life on the basis of self-evident and universal principles. 1965W. J. Harvey in Geo. Eliot Middlem. 11 Bulstrode..who rationalizes his worldly success as an example of divine providence.
b. To clear away by reasoning.
1855Kingsley Sir W. Raleigh Misc. (1859) I. 1 To rationalize away all the wonders, till we make them at last impossible, and give up caring to believe them.
c. Psychol. To give plausible reasons for (one's behaviour) that ignore, conceal, or gloss its real motive. Also absol. or intr.
1922H. Somerville Pract. Psycho-Anal. i. 14 It is clear that patient is rationalising, and that as a matter of fact he is eaten up with jealousy. 1925J. Riviere tr. Freud's Coll. Papers III. 330 The patient's consciousness naturally misunderstands them and puts forward a set of secondary motives to account for them—rationalizes them, in short. 1932H. G. Wells Work, Wealth & Happiness of Mankind vii. 279 To rationalize has one meaning in psychology, another meaning in the sociological writings of Max Weber, and quite another in the loose discussions of modern politicians and business men. 1966Word Study Dec. 3/2, I think we all rationalize with the thought that the free democratic society which produced us..had a right to be presented (sic) in such a fashion.
2. a. Math. To clear from irrational quantities.
1816tr. Lacroix's Diff. & Int. Calculus 670 The differential function..may be rationalized. 1888C. Smith Algebra (1893) 213 Find factors which will rationalize the following expressions.
b. Physics. To subject (the units or equations of electromagnetism) to rationalization (sense 2 b).
1892Nature 28 July 292/2 It is..very desirable that the practical units themselves should be rationalized. 1899Electrician 29 Dec. 325/2 If we take the permeability of ether to be 4π units instead of unity, we rationalize at one stroke all our present units except the units of magnetic force and magnetic pole strength. 1973J. Yarwood Electricity & Magnetism ii. 32 In rationalising electrical units the object..is to avoid the occurrence of 4π in systems without spherical symmetry and of 2π where cylindrical symmetry is absent.
c. To organize (economic production or the like) according to rational or scientific principles so as to achieve a desired or predictable result; esp. to reduce the number of (personnel, industrial plants, etc.) in such a way that the remainder are more efficiently deployed.
1926E. Grossmann Methods Econ. Rapprochement 30 International cartels will be able to rationalise production in a way impossible in the present state of affairs. 1931Ann. Reg. 1930 ii. 26 The Lancashire cotton industry. The steps taken to ‘rationalise’ the industry. 1953J. B. Carroll Study of Lang. iv. 127 A recent attempt to rationalize an artificial language by making maximal use of elements common to the most widely used natural languages is Interlingua. 1962Listener 22 Mar. 509/2 Their numbers go down: they are ‘rationalized’. In 1920 there were nine evening newspapers in London; now there are two. 1977R.A.F. News 11–24 May 7/2, I am..aware..of the need to rationalise reporting systems to reduce paperwork.
3. To endow with reason. rare.
1896[see rationalized ppl. a.].
4. intr. To employ reason or rationalism; to think rationally or in a rationalistic manner.
1835J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) II. 137 When we ask for reasons when we should not, we rationalise. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. viii. 1185 But subdue the bard And rationalize a little.
Hence ˈrationalizing vbl. n. and ppl. a.; ˈrationalizer, one who rationalizes.
1834T. Keightley Tales vii. 250 Whittington's Cat has not escaped the *rationalisers. 1871Tylor Prim. Cult. I. 250 The fault of the rationalizer lay in taking allegory beyond its proper action.
1865J. S. Mill Auguste Comte 54 The way to a complete *rationalizing of those sciences..has been shown nowhere so successfully as there. 1873M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma (1876) 327 Partial and local rationalising of religion. 1927A. Huxley Let. 25 Feb. (1969) 284, I can't see that there's anything to distinguish his rationalizings of religious emotions from those of anyone else. 1971P. Gresswell Environment 105 Footpaths in some parishes need reorganising and rationalising for today's needs.
1841Gladstone State in Rel. with Ch. x. (ed. 4) 367 The confession of faith of some *rationalising philosopher. c1852Wylde's Circ. Sc. I. 483/2 The rationalising multiplier here is 5 + √3. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. App. 543 Such rationalizing doubts are indignantly dismissed. |