rationaln.1
/ˈraʃn̩(ə)l/, /ˈraʃən(ə)l/, U.S. /ˈræʃ(ə)nəl/ 1. † a. The rational part of the human mind; the power or faculty of reason. Also in plural. Obsolete.† c. A rational concept. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [noun]
redeOE
witOE
skillc1175
skillwisenessa1200
reason?c1225
witsa1300
intellecta1398
rationala1398
understandinga1425
natural reason1440
rationabilitya1500
judgement1749
noesis1881
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 20v Þe soule..haþ þre maner vertues: on hatte racionalis, þerby he takeþ hede to þing þat is soþ & trewe... In þe racional is knowinge.
1640 H. Burton Replie to Relation of Conf. between Laude & Fisher 167 The sensitive and vegetative qualities of the soule of man being comprehended under the Rationalls, are subjected to the rule and command of Reason, and so doe participate in some kind of the very nature of the Rationall faculty.
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. v. 114 In the desiderative the Appetite is govern'd by the Rationall, the Rationall by the Intellectuall.
1699 G. Farquhar Love & Bottle ii. ii. 19 Your Rational's revers'd, carrying your understandings in your Legs.
1794 J. Hindmarsh tr. E. Swedenborg New Dict. Corr. 126 Euphrates, in the Word, signifies the interiors of man's mind, which are called rationals.
b. That which is rational or reasonable.
ΚΠ
1712 J. Brightland Gram. Eng. Tongue (ed. 2) iv. iv. 173 That which is properly juridicial, has its place either in Judgment, or before it; we divide the first into Rational and Legal: the Rational relates to the Fact, the Legal to the Sense of the Laws, Statutes, or written Authorities.
1898 G. Meredith Odes French Hist. 86 They not the less were mated, and proclaimed the rational their issue.
1905 Westm. Gaz. 30 Sept. 6/1 In other ways, too, coincidence is bound by the Rational; indeed, we can now see that it cannot exist without a rational basis.
1994 Appl. Linguistics 15 331 This, of course, leaves us to define reason, and to explain why Flew found it necessary to add a final circular clause to his definition (the rational is that which is opposed to the irrational).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [noun] > basis in reason > matter having
reasonc1230
shayth1542
rationality1654
rational1874
1874 H. Sidgwick Methods of Ethics iii. xiii. 362 This absolute end,..can be nothing but Reason itself, or the Universe of Rationals.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > conjunction > [noun] > other specific types of conjunction
rationalc1450
subcontinuativea1504
causal1530
conditional1591
perfective1735
positive1751
suppositive1751
vav conversive1828
c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 7 How mony powers of coniunccion byn þer? V. Wech v? Sum be copulatyuis, sum byn disiunctiuis, sum byn explatyuis, sum casuels and sum racionels.
1585 tr. P. de La Ramée Lat. Gram. iii. iv. 106 Of rationals these onelye put before. Sic quas ob res,..quocirca.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. viii. 97 Coniunctions, Copulatiues, Rationals, Aduersitiues,..Expletiues, and certaine others.
1677 F. Bampfield Seventh-day-sabbath 81 Sometimes it [sc. the word for] is a rational repeating of a Sentence, begun a little before; and it doth absolve and complete it, though by another manner of Speech; to mention no more: Still it is a Rational.
3. † b. A rational being; spec. a human being, as opposed to an animal. Chiefly in plural. Obsolete.† c. An advocate of rational dress (see rational adj. and adv. Compounds). Obsolete.
a. A person who takes a rationalist view, esp. in philosophy or religion; = rationalist n. 1, 2. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > rationalism > [noun] > rationalist
rational?1541
rationalist1625
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens sig. Gi That is to wyt the indycacyon yt is taken of the myghtynes of the dysease, which the Methodykes onely haue nat left (whiche is no merueyle) but also dyuers of the racyonalles, & Emperykes althoughe it be in dyuers maners.
?1570 T. Drant Two Serm. i. sig. Dvi Is it not excesse of learning that maketh Durand and the rest of their rationals thus to dispute: God made heauen and earth in the beginning, and not in the beginnings: therfore the Pope must be soueraigne?
1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. ii. 416 Our unskilful Physitians, who brag much of Secrets they have learn't in private, and for the knowledg of these will be called Rationals in Physick.
1812 I. D'Israeli Calam. Auth. I. 173 He [sc. Henley] called himself ‘a Rationalist’—and on his dea[t]h-bed repeatedly cried out, ‘Let my notorious enemies know I die a Rational.’
1991 B. H. G. Wormald Francis Bacon (1993) xiv. 315 Comparing these men [of the Empirical School] to their disadvantage with the Rationals, he implies that it is the latter, the Rationals, who have preserved foundations in the light of common notions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > [noun]
maneOE
worldOE
all fleshc1000
mankinOE
earthOE
little worldc1175
man's kinda1200
mankinda1225
worldrichec1275
slimec1315
kindc1325
world1340
sectc1400
humanityc1450
microcosma1475
peoplea1500
the human kindred?1533
race1553
homo1561
humankind1561
universality1561
deadly?1590
mortality1598
rational1601
vicegerent1601
small world1604
flesh and blooda1616
mannity1621
human race1623
universea1645
nations1667
public1699
the species1711
Adamhood1828
Jock Tamson's bairns1832
folx1833
Bimana1839
human1841
peeps1847
menfolk1870
manfolk1876
amniota1879
peoplekind1956
personkind1972
the world > people > person > [noun] > as rational or conscious being
reasonablea1425
intelligent1585
rational1601
person1659
conscienta1774
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [noun] > one who is reasonable
philosopher1600
rationalist1625
rational1755
reasonable1814
rationalizer1826
1601 T. Powell Passionate Poet sig. B3v So he repines the poorest rational Should dwell contented by his natiue thrall.
1606 W. Warner Continuance Albions Eng. xiv. lxxxii. 343 Beasts silent, that with Rationales was all a-mort suppose.
1664 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders (new ed.) i. sig. f3v Love to Art..infers the party to be a true Rational.
1688 London Gaz. No. 2357/1 We must deprive our selves of our selves, as Rationals, and become more stupid then Brutes.
1755 E. Young Centaur 103 He is a Rational, dethroning Reason; and an Animal, transgressing Appetite.
1792 T. Paine Rights of Man: Pt. Second iii. 21 Kings succeed each other, not as rationals, but as animals.
1828 R. Craig in R. C. Craig Memorials (1862) vi. 129 Something which might exercise the mind as well as limbs of the rationals assembled there.
1883 A. Mahan Critical Hist. Philos. II. iii. 149 All Rationals must intuitively and necessarily Recognize the System as Absolute Error.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > [noun] > in specific way > with specific clothing > adoption of rational dress > one who
rational1896
rationalist1899
1896 Westm. Gaz. 28 Nov. 3/2 As a ‘rational’,..she thought that members should be free to adopt any costume that they liked.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > cause or reason > [noun] > fundamental reason or logical basis
reasona1425
rational1621
ratio1638
rationality1646
rationale1651
predicate1832
1621 D. Calderwood Altar of Damascus vii. 186 They have no reason for these and other like superstitious vanities, but such as Durandus, or any other papist can give them, out of their reasonless Rationalls.
1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriotaphia: Urne-buriall iv. 55 To afford an account or rationall of old Rites.
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. D2 I looked over the Canons, the Rational, the Ceremonial, the Rubrick, imagining the Exposing mention'd, must be some new part of our Ecclesiastical Discipline.
1692 B. Keach Rector Rectified & Corrected 15 Holy Water, Purification of Women, Easter, Pentecost, and many more such Ceremonies; for which the Papists do in like manner argue, as appears out of Durandus's Rationals, and other Interpreters of Rituals among the Papists.
5. Mathematics. A rational number or quantity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities > rational
rationality1570
rational1668
1668 J. Wallis Let. 8 Feb. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1967) IV. 159 I have sent you herewith, my Solution of ye French Problem in Rationalls.
1685 J. Wallis Treat. Algebra xcix. 373 A Fraction (in Rationals) less than the proposed (Irrational) p.
1797 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 6 Science 222 Four quadratics and a rational may be reduced at least with the same ease.
1880 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 3 371 λ1 and μ1, as also λ2 and μ2, are commensurable, in the sense that one can be expressed rationally in terms of the other and of absolute rationals.
1937 J. H. Michell & M. H. Belz Elem. Math. Anal. II. xxi. 1051 The notion of partitions of the rationals forms the basis of Dedekind's treatment of real numbers.
1958 D. E. Littlewood Univ. Algebra (ed. 2) ix. 150 The set of integers K can be embedded in a field of quotients. This field of quotients is defined as the rationals.
1992 G. Ellis Rings & Fields v. 86 A real number α is obtainable from the rationals by taking square roots.
6. In plural. Rational dress (see rational adj. and adv. Compounds); spec. bloomers or knickerbockers for women. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers > types of > wide or loose > for cycling, etc.
pantaloon1814
pants1851
trouserettes1857
pantalettes1881
rationals1889
bloomer1895
pantalettes1897
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Dec. 6/2 Small shoes and latter-day ‘rationals’.
1895 Westm. Gaz. 2 Sept. 8/1 A mild plot amongst lady cyclists to persuade her ladyship..to adopt ‘rationals’.
1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 171/1 Not so very long ago a discussion took place in one of the daily papers as to whether ladies when cycling should assume the traditional skirt or the more advanced ‘rationals’.
1929 Encycl. Brit. VI. 920/2 To-day nearly 90% of club women and keen riders wear rationals for their more serious cycling.
1978 Times 4 Feb. 14/1 The ‘New Women’, dressed in their ‘rationals’ (a rig which included knickerbockers) glided past!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† rationaln.2
Roman History. Obsolete. rare.
An accountant or auditor.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > [noun] > keeper of accounts
accountera1400
teller1434
countrel?1475
reasoner1509
accountant1539
chequer-man?1577
computist1583
rational1610
actuary1769
account keeper1797
tallyman1857
number cruncher1971
bean-counter1975
1583 Sir T. Smith's De Republica Anglorum ii. xiv. 58 The hearers of the account (who in latin may be called tribuni aerarij) haue auditors vnder them which the Latines doe call Rationales.]
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 77 The Receiuer of ther Emperours Finances..had under him in Britaine, the Rationall or Auditor of the summes and revenues of Britaine.
1683 Britanniæ Speculum 115 His Rational of Private State in Britain, to say nothing of other inferior Officers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
rationaladj.adv.
/ˈraʃn̩(ə)l/, /ˈraʃən(ə)l/, U.S. /ˈræʃ(ə)nəl/ A. adj.
I. General senses.
1. Of a person, a person's soul, mind, etc.
a. Having the faculty of reasoning; endowed with reason. Esp. in rational being, rational creature, rational soul, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > vital principle > [noun]
souleOE
lifeOE
spiritusOE
bloodOE
ghostOE
life and soulOE
quickship?c1225
quicknessc1230
breatha1300
spirita1325
spark1382
naturec1385
sparkle1388
livelinessa1398
rational soula1398
spiracle1398
animal spirit?a1425
vital spiritc1450
soul of the world1525
candle1535
fire1576
three souls1587
vitality?1592
candlelight1596
substance1605
vivacity1611
animality1615
vividity1616
animals1628
life spring1649
archeus1651
vital1670
spirituosity1677
springs of life1681
microcosmetor1684
vital force1702
vital spark (also flame)1704
stamen1718
vis vitae1752
prana1785
Purusha1785
jiva1807
vital force1822
heartbeat1828
world-soul1828
world-spirit1828
life energy1838
life force1848
ghost soul1869
will to live1871
biogen1882
ki1893
mauri1897
élan vital1907
orgone1942
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [adjective]
wittyc1300
reasonablec1350
skillwise1357
skilfulc1380
rationala1398
rationablec1480
reasonedc1487
logicala1652
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 330 Þe cercle tokeneþ þe soule racional.
c1450 tr. G. Boccaccio De Claris Mulieribus (1924) 894 (MED) This witty lady togyder didd them call..Persuadynge them..To thynke that they were creatures racionall And vndirstondyng hadd of goode and ill.
1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe i. f. Cxxiv The racionall sences consysteth in reason, the which doth make a man or woman a reasonable beest.
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie iii. x. sig. H5v This ill-stuft truncke of iests, whose very soule Is but a heape of Iibes, should once inroule His name mong creatures termed rationall.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 432 We determine that the Braine is the Pallace of the Rationall Soule.
a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 409 Other bodies, not onely of rationall creatures, men and women, but also of irrational, birds and beasts.
c1670 R. Cudworth Treat. Freewill (1961) 62 The idea of these things is nothing so unapt as that of an imperfect rational being.
1682 W. Bacon Key to Helmont i. 3 Now here I understand not, by the Spirit moving on the Waters, an absolute immaterial substance, or the rational soul of man, but the sensitive, common to us and Beasts, and only comparatively immaterial in respect of grosser substances.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 120. ⁋10 This natural Love in Brutes is much more violent and intense than in rational Creatures.
1746 R. Whatley Christian 5 Our natural State must be confess'd, for rational Creatures, to be a very unnatural one.
1783 W. Cowper Let. 29 Sept. (1981) II. 164 We are Rational, but we are Animal too.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) ii. 9 If you're a rational being, don't make such ridiculous excuses.
1908 Jrnl. Abnormal Psychol. 3 166 Everyone feels that as a rational creature he must be able to give a connected..account of himself.
1936 W. F. R. Hardie Study in Plato xi. 141 Aristotle..makes use of the misleading simplificatory language according to which the rational soul commands the irrational soul.
1975 J. Plamenatz Karl Marx's Philos. of Man i. 17 He always speaks of man as a self-conscious, rational, active being who can make choices and can initiate change deliberately.
2000 L. G. Patterson in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 561/2 The purpose of the divine economy of salvation is the return of all rational creatures to their original state at the ‘consummation of all things’ (apokatastasis ).
b. That uses, or is capable of using, the faculty of reasoning; having sound judgement; (in extended use) sensible, sane, lucid. Also: characterized by reasoning, as opposed to emotion, intuition, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > [adjective]
in (one's right) witc1000
wittyc1000
wisec1290
well-tempered1340
reasonablec1400
safe1402
perfectc1440
well in (also of) one's witsa1450
right in one's geara1500
well-advised1532
sensed1549
unmad1570
well-advised1585
rational1598
solid1606
in one's (right) senses1613
formala1616
of (in) disposing mind or memory1628
compos mentis1631
righta1638
well-hinged1649
well-balanced1652
spacked1673
clear-headed1709
sane1721
unfantastic1794
unmaddened1797
pas si bête1840
lucid1843
unfantastical1862
clothed and in one's right mind1873
right-minded1876
ungiddy1904
clear1950
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [adjective] > exercising reason
reasonablec1400
rational1598
fair1603
sober1638
intelligencing1658
unperverse1665
open1672
wise-like1816
sane1843
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost i. ii. 113 Boy, I do loue, that Countrey girle that I tooke in the Parke with the rational hinde Costard: she deserues well. View more context for this quotation
1625 A. Garden Char. & Ess. 43 Of Female kinde, shee is the first and fairest, And one of all the Rationall, that's Rarest.
a1637 B. Jonson Magnetick Lady iii. vi. 54 in Wks. (1640) III You are one O' the deepest Politiques I ever met, And the most subtily rationall.
1641 H. L'Estrange Gods Sabbath 34 Our most Rationall adversaries begin to reel towards us.
1672 J. Lacy Dumb Lady v. i. 70 I have known some Chymical Physicians learned and rational men.
1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 239 They were told by a good rational Indian Woman [etc.].
1753 H. Rimius tr. J. Stinstra Pastoral Let. against Fanaticism 49 Neither can rational people relish those Excesses which Fanaticism carries on under Pretence of Religion.
1791 E. Burke Appeal New to Old Whigs 114 Rational and experienced men, tolerably well know,..how to distinguish between true and false liberty.
1809 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 21 216 Frequent restlessness and delirium, yet at times he is rational and patient.
a1817 J. Austen Persuasion (1818) III. xii. 262 As to the wretched party left behind, it could scarcely be said which of the three, who were completely rational, was suffering most. View more context for this quotation
1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. i. vii. 111 Our rational and sober-minded islanders.
a1855 C. Brontë Professor (1857) II. xix. 30 The man of regular life and rational mind never despairs.
1939 D. Cecil Young Melbourne i. 23 Level-headed and rational, she found scenes and caprices as tiresome as they did.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day iii. 46 I was a rational little boy.
1996 S. Nye Best of Men behaving Badly (2000) 5th Ser. Episode 2. 203/2 Tony. Why do you reckon girls are more interested in astrology than men? Gary. Ooh, I think it's because they're not very rational, are they?
2. † b. That exists only in the mind; having no actual physical presence. Cf. real adj.2 1a. Obsolete.
a. Of or relating to reason or reasoning.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [adjective] > relating to reason
rationala1398
reasonal1594
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 20v Þe wittis comeþ of þat vertu racional & apprehensiue.
c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 151 (MED) Qwyll þat a man slepyth..þe vertu racional sekyth reste.
1547 J. Wilkinson tr. Aristotle Ethiques vi. sig. Biii The power racional is to be said in two sortes.
1565 J. Hall Expositiue Table 75 in tr. Lanfranc Most Excellent Woorke Chirurg. Myrobalani Cepulae are blackishe, inclining to rednes, and are phlegme purgers, namely from the stomache, they strengthen also the same & the spirites rational, & sharpen ye sight.
1592 A. Willet Synopsis Papismi iii. xix. 611 There is no essentiall difference in the Trinitie: for there is one essence and diuine nature common to them all. But there is both a real and rational difference: The persons differ one from another really, though not essentially.
1614 C. Brooke Ghost Richard III iii. xii. sig. I3 My Aspick Flatterie, That shed such venome in my Rationall Powre.
1675 R. Barclay Apol. Quakers iv. iii. 102 As he is a meer Man, he differs no otherwise from Beasts, than by the Rational Property.
1713 J. Barker Love Intrigues 5 But Passion takes Root in our Hearts, and very often out-grows and smothers our rational Faculties.
1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 26 July (1932) (modernized text) III. 1185 Philosophy, rational logic, rhetoric [etc.].
1788 T. Reid Aristotle's Logic vi. §1. 126 Our rational faculty is the gift of God.
a1882 T. H. Green Proleg. Ethics (1883) §207 The consciousness of unfulfilled possibilities of the rational nature common to all men.
1929 H. Wickham Impuritans viii. 199 When Proust tries to make bestemmia e il turpiloquio into something charming and sublime, his rational power leaves him.
1969 K. Clark Civilisation v. 131 Rational activities—logic, grammar and geometry.
2004 D. P. Nord Faith in Reading i. 16 One recent historian..wrote that the Puritan mind had two hemispheres: one rational and preparationist; the other more emotional, more mystical, more fully absorbed in the unconditional love of God.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > mental image, idea, or fancy > [adjective] > only in imagination or unreal
imaginary?1510
imaginative1517
rational1530
fantastical1531
fantasied1561
airy1565
fancied1568
legendary1570
dreamed1597
fabled1606
ideal1611
fictive1612
affectual1614
insubstantiala1616
imaginatorya1618
supposititious1620
fictitious1621
utopian1624
utopic1624
notional1629
affective1633
fictiousa1644
notionary1646
figmental1655
suppositious1655
fict1677
visionary1725
metaphysical1728
unrealized1767
fancy1801
nice-spun1801
subjective1815
aerial1829
transcendental1835
cardboardy1863
mythical1870
cardboard1879
fictionary1882
figmentary1887
alternative1939
alternate1944
fantasized1964
ideate1966
fanciful-
fantastic-
1530 J. Rastell New Bk. Purgatory iii. xi. sig. G4v Therfore to thy questyon I say, ye purgatory is no place contynentyue of it selfe,..because it is ordeyned only for purgyng of soules, whych be thynges racyonall and incorporall.
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. x. iii. 201 Ye sonne of God according vnto ye likenes which he made of him self, made it in all things like vnto God, to wete an incorruptible nature, an incorporeall a rationall, seuered from all earthly substance & a selfe spirituall essence.
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 104 Such things haue a being in our vnderstanding, and that is enough to make them rationall beings.
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. Proem. 6 These second Notions are not Real, but only Mental or Rational Beings, framed out of Real Beings.
1717 T. Wise Fourteen Disc. p. xxx The Christian Sacrifice emphatically asserted by St. Barnabas..to be Rational, Spiritual, Immaterial, Incorporeal, &c.
1761 tr. C. Batteux Course Belles Lettres II. ii. iii. xi. 97 A skilful poet..will never be at the labor and pains to confine himself to creating rational beings. No, he will take his matter wheresoever he finds it, in the things which actually and presently exist, [etc.].
3.
a. Based on or derived from reason or reasoning, esp. as opposed to emotion, intuition, instinct, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [adjective] > in accordance with reason
reasonablea1382
rationablec1475
just1490
rational1531
correct1705
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xxv. sig. hvv That parte of phisike called rationall, wherby is declared the faculties or powers of the body, the causis, accidentes, and tokens of sikenessis.
1584 W. Averell Dyall for Dainty Darlings sig. Civ In those sensible Creatures, seperated from rationall vnderstanding, and being but led by sensuall gouernement we see an inward duetie and secrete loue, that causeth the roote of thankfulness.
1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης vi. 56 He confesses a rational sovrantie of soule, and freedom of will in every man.
1677 A. Marvell Acct. Growth Popery 52 To raise, betwixt the King and his People, a rationall Jealousy of Popery, and French government, till we should insensibly devolve into them.
1701 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World I. iv. 218 Faith is a rational assent, or an assent founded on reason, tho' not the reason of the thing believed.
1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers 608 Of tastes that are natural, there are some that may be called rational, others that are merely animal.
a1825 A. Barbauld Legacy for Young Ladies (1826) 130 But if an acquaintance with history thus increases a rational love of our country, it also tends to check those low, illiberal, vulgar prejudices which adhere to the uninformed of every nation.
1885 J. Martineau Types Ethical Theory (ed. 2) I. i. xi. §8. 212 Any..instance of rational apprehension, e.g. our knowledge that the surface of a sphere is equal to the area of a circle of twice its diameter.
1950 I. Berlin in Foreign Affairs Apr. i. 8 In this movement there is in principle a rational answer to every question.
1984 J. F. Lamb et al. Essent. Physiol. (ed. 2) vi. 166 Eating habits are rarely rational for they are surrounded by tradition and ritual.
1990 A. S. Byatt Possession xvii. 299 The poet went to the seances in a spirit of rational enquiry, rather than with any predisposition to believe what he saw.
2005 J. Diamond Collapse (2006) xiv. 431 A further conflict of interest involving rational behavior arises when the interests of the decision-making elite in power clash with the interests of the rest of society.
b. Chiefly Economics. Involving or characterized by any of various methods of analysis or planning based on the calculation of a projected result; designating such a method.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [adjective] > of or relating to specific policies or actions
imperial1726
co-operative1821
protectionist1844
inflationist1876
rational1915
deflationist1921
rationalist1942
producer-oriented1946
redistributionist1949
substantivist1956
supply side1957
demand-pull1958
tax-and-spend1960
stop-and-go1961
stop-go1962
go-stop1964
supply-driven1973
demand-side1975
supply side1976
demand-driven1980
1915 M. Epstein tr. W. Sombart Quintessence of Capitalism xii. 182 He is ever ready to adopt a newer method if it is more rational, whether in the sphere of organization, of production, or of calculation.
1926 E. Grossmann Methods Econ. Rapprochement 30 The most important economies will follow not from the simplification of the machinery of distribution but from a rational organization of production itself.
1930 T. Parsons tr. M. Weber Protestant Ethic 21 Rational industrial organization, attuned to a regular market..is not, however, the only peculiarity of Western capitalism.
1943 J. A. Schumpeter Capitalism, Socialism & Democracy xi. 123 Capitalist practice turns the unit of money into a tool of rational cost-profit calculations, of which the towering monument is double-entry book~keeping.
1969 Simon & Stedry in G. Lindzey & E. Aronson Handbk. Social Psychol. (ed. 2) V. xl. 272 The classical economic theory of markets with rational agents and perfect competition is a deductive theory that requires almost no contact with empirical data..to establish its propositions.
1977 A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory v. 206 Weber's characterization of modern capitalism as involving above all the ‘rational’ organization of resources geared to the accumulation of profit is unsatisfactory.
1994 Amer. Scholar Winter 53 Hamilton had monetized the entire federal and state war debts, using a form of what economists later called ‘rational expectations’ to convert debt securities into money.
4. In accordance with reason; reasonable, sensible; not foolish, absurd, or extreme.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [adjective] > not excessive
skillwisea1340
reasonablec1400
sensible?a1439
rational1598
1598 G. Chapman in tr. Homer Achilles Shield sig. A4v And an vsuall seueritie he vsed, but a most rationall (how precise and ridiculous soeuer it may seeme to men made of ridiculous matter) that in reuerence of the pietie and perfect humanitie he taught.
1635 E. Pagitt Christianographie (1636) i. iii. 123 We offer unto thee, this rationall and unbloody worship.
1669 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa VI. iii. vi. 114 He might decline that Assistance, in which Mithridates had his Rationallest hopes.
1695 J. Locke Further Considerations conc. Raising Value of Money 92 What Mr. Lowndes says about Gold Coins,..appears to me highly rational.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 394 It did not seem Rational that we would chose to remain here at the Expence and Peril of Life.
a1752 R. Burnham Pious Memorials (1753) p. vi All display true fortitude, rational tranquility, and well-grounded hope.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. lxiv. 297 [He] will..concur in any rational plan, that may provide for the liberty of the individual.
1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 176 On the following morning..his answers were rational.
1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight viii. 104 All the organs of the body are better for moderate and rational use.
1918 W. M. Kirkland Joys of being Woman xxii. 277 If the purpose of speed is to get the most out of this life because there is no other, then no movement at all is exactly as rational as too much.
1960 A. S. Neill Summerhill 122 In Australia, fear of a spider is rational, for a spider can be death-dealing.
1985 I. Opie & P. Opie Singing Game xi. 283 Occasionally the song begins with the rational statement ‘We are coming to take your land. We are the rovers’..and occasionally it lapses into nursery comedy—‘We will fetch our big bull-dogs..our big sharp swords.’
2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 2 Nov. 60/3 Iran, he says, may be able to ‘play the nuclear card to renegotiate a more rational relationship’ with the United States.
II. Technical uses.
5. Grammar. Of a conjunction: that expresses a reason for a statement. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > conjunction > [adjective] > giving a reason
rationalc1450
rendering1571
ratiocinative1585
rationative1650
c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 42 How many spyces hath the power of coniunccion? Fyue, by the ‘Donet’: copulatyf, disiunctyf, expletyf, racionel, and causell.
1531 J. Vaus Rudimenta (new ed.) ii. sig. eeij Ane coniunctione may be of diuers power, now rationale, now causale.
1678 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. iii. iii. 84 Those words..are immediately subjoined to vers 16, and are connected therewith by the rational Particle γὰρ, which points out the reason of that which next follows.
1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation i. 2/2 Ratiocinative is, when one of the Parts is concluded by another, to wit, Rational or Causal. Rational is when a Reason proceeds, as Then, wherefore, &c. Causal, when a Reason is rendred afterwards, as For, to the end that, because that, &c.
?1738 A. Burrell Proposals for Printing Crit. Anal. Hebrew & Chaldic Words in Old Test. 3/2 Kij, is a causal, or rational particle.
1784 S. Hardy Scripture-acct. Nature & Ends Holy Eucharist vii. 309 Now the Hebrew Particle..Vau, which is often considered, and translated, as a Conjunction Copulative, is also a Conjunction Causal, or Rational.
1853 J. Nichols tr. J. Arminius Wks. II. 245 Let some attention be bestowed on the connection of the fourteenth verse with those which preceded it; for the rational particle yap, ‘for’, indicates its connection with the preceding.
2002 L. G. Kelly Mirror of Grammar v. 161 Rational conjunctions like enim have greater reference a parte consequentis.
6.
a. Designating, belonging to, or characteristic of a school of medicine originating in ancient Greece in which treatments and explanations of disease were based on deduction from theoretical principles; frequently in rational physic, rational physician. Opposed to empirical. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > physician > [adjective] > ancient
rational?1541
?1541 R. Copland Galen's Fourth Bk. Terapeutyke sig. Eiijv, in Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens Seynge that none Emperyke, nor racyonall [Fr. nul Empirique, ne rational] hath so wryten before.
1569 J. Sanford tr. H. C. Agrippa Of Vanitie Artes & Sci. lxxxii. f.140 v Serapion confessed that this Rational Phisicke belonged not to the Arte of healinge maladies.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. ii. 127 An Empiricke many times, and a silly Chirurgeon, doth more strange cures then a rationall Physition.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 123 [They] are ready enough to slander the rationall Physitian.
1677 J. Webster Displaying Supposed Witchcraft xvii. 323 It hath sometimes been a question, Whether a rational Physician in the curing of melancholy persons, or others in some odd diseases, ought to grant the use of Characters or Charms, and such ridiculous administrations?
1717 F. Bellinger Tractatus de Fœtu Nutrito iv. 11 The great Hippocrates, the Master and Founder of rational Physick.
1738 E. Chambers Cycl. (ed. 2) at Physician The ancients distinguished their physicians into various classes, or sects:—As, Rational Physicians, [etc.].
1775 tr. D. Cotugno Treat. Nerv. Sciatica p. xvii If all those who commence Students in rational Physic, would diligently endeavour to obtain a knowledge of the fabric of the human body..we should not be so often at a loss for that right rule of practice which they boast of having obtained.
1837 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. I. iv. i. 250 That medical sect which was termed the empirical, in contradistinction to the rational and methodical sects.
1846 Lancet 16 May 552/1 In the treatment of the disease our author belongs to the rational school. He believes in no specific remedy able at once to control the disease.
1973 M. E. Bailey Nursing & Social Change i. 8 The rational schools had many disciples, but three men stand out [sc. Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen].
1993 A. Wear in A. Wear et al. Doctors & Ethics iv. 106 The arrogant, yet whining, complaint that the patients did not automatically realize that rational, learned medicine was best permeates the writings of the rational physicians.
b. Designating psychology that is studied by deduction from general principles. Frequently in rational psychology. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > [noun] > science of mind or soul > as deduced from general principles
rational psychology1817
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria I. ix. 139 These delusions were such, as might be anticipated..from his ignorance of rational psychology.
1849 L. P. Hickok Rational Psychol. 21 Those a priori conditions which give the necessary and universal laws to experience, and by which intelligence itself is alone made intelligible, are the elements for a higher Psychological Science which we term Rational.
1861 J. S. Mill Let. in A. Bain John Stuart Mill (1882) iv. 118 It will enable me..to do the kind of service which I am capable of to rational psychology.
1892 W. James Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) xx. 321 We certainly need something more radical than the old division into ‘rational’ and ‘empirical’ psychology, both to be treated by the same writer between the covers of the same book.
1946 T. D. Weldon Introd. Kant's Critique Pure Reason 115 Rational psychology claims to expound the nature of the soul or self in so far as this can be done by pure reason alone.
1992 Philos. Rev. 101 400 Hegel's battle with dualism culminates in the rejection of rational psychology and its idea of a soul as a thing.
7.
a. Mathematics. Of a number, quantity, etc.: able to be expressed as a ratio of two whole numbers. †rational to: having a ratio to another quantity which is a rational number (obsolete).For example, the decimal 0.25 may be represented as 1/4 and so is rational; 0.3333…, although a recurring decimal, is equivalent to 1/3 and so is also rational.In translations of Euclid applied to a quantity whose square is rational (in the usual sense) but which may itself be irrational. Cf. note at irrational adj. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [adjective] > prime > rational
rational1570
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. v. f. 127 Such magnitudes or quantities, which may be expressed by numbre, are called rationall [L. rationalis].
1614 W. Bedwell De Numeris Geometricis i. 2 The Base and Height are said to be rational one to another, when as the rate or reason of both may be expressed by a number of the same measure given.
1660 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements x. 237 The square of a binomiall line..applyed unto a rationall line.
1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 116 Rational Quantities may be reduced to the Form of any assign'd Root.
1798 C. Hutton Course Math. I. 80 The square root of 3 is a surd root; but the square root of 4 is a rational root, being equal to 2.
1881 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 172 714 A similar expression..may be found for the sum of any number of such integrals each multiplied by any rational number positive or negative, integral or fractional.
1940 C. C. MacDuffee Introd. Abstract Algebra iii. 82 A quadratic equation with rational coefficients which does not have a rational root.
1966 R. E. Johnson Univ. Algebra i. 20 There exist consecutive integers n and n + 1, but there do not exist consecutive rational numbers.
2004 M. Potter Set Theory & its Philos. viii. 138 A real number is said to be algebraic if it is a root of a polynomial equation with rational coefficients; transcendental if not.
b. Of a function: that can be expressed as a ratio of two polynomial functions; (of an expression) consisting of such a ratio.
ΚΠ
1745 J. Stewart Sir Isaac Newton's Two Treat. Quadrature of Curves 109 If any fluxionary Expression, including only one flowing Quantity x and its Fluxion ẋ = 1, be a rational Fraction, it's Fluent, if finite, must be a rational Fraction also.
1786 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 76 99 M. Bernoulli assumed a fraction whose numerator is a rational function of the unknown quantity, and denominator the quantity.
1885 H. W. Watson & S. H. Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. I. 41 Yi is a rational and integral function of cos θ.
1913 Science 12 Sept. 351/2 An equation of the fourth order can be solved by means of a cubic equation, because there exists a rational function of the four roots which takes only three values when the roots are exchanged in all possible ways.
1991 G. H. Tomlinson Electr. Networks & Filters 34 A rational function is one which can be expressed as the ratio of two polynomials, each having a finite number of terms and only integer powers.
c. Physics. = rationalized adj. 2. Now rare.With some semantic influence from sense A. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > [adjective] > subjected to rationalization
rational1892
rationalized1933
1882 O. Heaviside in Nature 24 Aug. 391/1 If..electricity stands foremost amongst the exact sciences, it follows that its unit measures should be determined with the utmost accuracy. Yet, twenty years ago very little advance had been made toward the adoption of a rational system.]
1892 Nature 28 July 293/1 If we let the rational practical units be the same multiples of the ‘absolute’ rational units as the present practical units are of their absolute progenitors, then [etc.].
1905 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 34 179 The Giorgi system is a rational one (in the Heaviside sense).
1942 London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 7th Ser. 33 487 All the above formulæ, whether those of the rational system or of the ordinary system, are entirely independent of any choice of units.
2002 Jrnl. Physics A 35 3480 For the sake of simplicity, we employ rational units ℏ = c = 2m* = 1, and absorb the electron charge into the field intensity B.
8. Medicine. Designating or relating to clinical signs (in later use: spec. functional changes) that are associated with a disease by inference (as opposed to signs directly appreciated during examination); esp. in rational sign. Cf. physical sign n. at physical adj. Compounds. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1674 J. Blagrave New Tract Cure of Wounds 6 in Suppl. to Culpeppers Eng. Physitian The rational signs are taken diversly,..its probable that the skul is broken if they bleed at nose ears or mouth, if they swoon or vomit,..if he raves or falter in his speech, be dull, weak of judgment, and understanding.
1710 tr. P. Dionis Course Chirurg. Operations 271 The rational signs depend on the efficient Cause, the nature of the Wound, and its Symptoms.
1763 R. Brookes Introd. Physic & Surg. (ed. 2) 79 Rational Signs are those which Reason discovers: These are not properly speaking Signs, but Conclusions, that are drawn from external Signs relating to the Disease, their Degree, their Circumstances, and convenient Remedies.
1837 Lancet 30 Dec. 479/1 In this early stage the symptoms are so obscure, that I question whether they can be detected by either physical or rational science.
1855 J. King Amer. Eclectic Obstetr. 98 The signs of pregnancy are divided into the rational and the sensible; the rational are again subdivided into general, local, and sympathetic.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 275 Physical are more important than rational signs in establishing the diagnosis of cyst of the pancreas.
1933 H. D. Chapin & L. T. Royster Pediatrics xxv. 334 The treatment for perforation, which would be evidenced by sudden pain, abdominal tenderness, and changes in the rational signs, demands prompt surgical intervention.
9. Architecture. Designating any of various styles of architecture which emphasize rationalist principles or a rational approach to building and urban planning. Cf. rationalism n. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > style of architecture > [adjective] > other styles
florida1706
massive1723
rounded1757
round-arched1782
castellar1789
baronial1807
rational1813
English colonial1817
massy1817
transitional1817
Scottish Baronial1829
rococo1830
flamboyant1832
Scotch Baronial1833
Churrigueresque1845
Russo-Byzantine1845
soaring1849
trenchant1849
vernacular1857
Scots Baronial1864
baroque1867
Perp.1867
rayonnant1873
Dutch colonial1876
Neo-Grec1878
rococoesque1885
Richardsonian1887
federal1894
organic1896
confectionery1897
European-style1907
postmodern1916
Lutyens1921
modern1927
moderne1928
functionalist1930
Williamsburg1931
Colonial Revival1934
packing case1935
Corbusian1936
lavatorial1936
pseudish1938
Adamesque1942
rationalist1952
Miesian1956
open-planned1958
Lutyensesque1961
façade1962
Odeon1964
high-tech1979
Populuxe1986
1813 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia at Gothic Architecture The Gothic architecture is perhaps intitled to the name of rational architecture; and its beauty is founded on the characteristic distinction of our species.
1873 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice (new ed.) II. vi. 178 For in one point of view Gothic is not only the best, but the only rational architecture, as being that which can fit itself most easily to all services, vulgar or noble.
1933 Times 24 Jan. 11 The fiercest and most authoritative protest against ‘rational’ architecture has come from the Pope.
1953 A. L. Whittick European Archit. in 20th Cent. II. xxix. 9 The Central Post Office is an essay in the modern ‘rational’ manner.
1979 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts Nov. 771/2 Local Barcelona architects..had been practising by name a form of rational architecture since the late fifties.
2004 R. S. Stennott Encycl. 20th Cent. Archit. 2 496 This highly ordered, rational architecture inspired by Mies and American modernism.
10. Classical Prosody. Of a syllable: having a metrical value corresponding to its actual time-value. Also: designating a metrical foot containing such a syllable. Cf. irrational adj. 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > rhythm > [adjective] > quantitative > rational
rational1894
1894 Classical Rev. 8 371/1 The numbers denote units of time, and x is the indeterminate quantity by which a syllable exceeds or falls short of the ‘rational’ duration.
1926 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 47 189 This ratio also (irrational foot to rational foot), though inexact, was a ‘recognizable ratio’ and, therefore, rhythmical.
1988 Classical Q. New Ser. 38 95 We have an unwelcome period-end in mid phrase... Not much is needed to restore rational metre.
B. adv.
In a rational manner; rationally. Now nonstandard.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > [adverb]
of (also in) good (also perfect, safe, sane, sound, whole) memory1402
rationablya1540
rationally1610
rational1662
sanely1803
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [adverb]
with reasonc1300
skilfullyc1325
skillwiselya1340
skilfula1400
reasonablyc1400
of reason1405
in reasona1450
upon reasonc1450
reasonfully1532
justlya1538
rationablya1540
reasonally1567
reasonable1573
as soon (as)1579
rationally1610
to reason1613
rational1662
correctlya1704
rightly1703
upon the weight of1710
legitimately1794
well-foundedly?1841
tarblish1842
sanely1884
1662 Duchess of Newcastle Wits Cabal ii. ii. ix, in Playes Written 302 I would have him to speak rational, witty, and eloquent, to please my Ears.
1759 E. Goldney Epist. to Deists & Jews 126 Permit me as a sincere, hearty friend..to put the following questions..in order that you may be enabled..for the future part of your life to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, which natural religion must tell you is acting rational.
1806 Raleigh Reg. & N.-Carolina Gaz. 4 Aug. He seemed serious but talked rational; conversed about moving... Witness had heard before this, that the prisoner was crazy.
1882 T. Dunphy & T. J. Cummins Remarkable Trials II. v. 295 For a moment after the subject was broached, he talked rational enough.
1999 South Western Reporter 90 Robert talked rational up to the time of his death, except when he was in a coma right at the last.
Compounds
Rational Christian n. (also with lower-case initial in the first element) now chiefly historical a Christian who claims a rational basis for his or her faith (often referred to somewhat disparagingly by commentators); cf. rationalist n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > person > [noun] > rational
Rational Christian1750
1750 F. Masson Contin. True Rationalist xii. 155 This is..what shews me how convincing your Reasons are to determine me for the Establishment of a Society of Rational Christians.
1800 T. Jefferson Let. 23 Sept. in Writings (1984) 1081 I have a view of the subject which ought to displease neither the rational Christian nor Deists.
1884 Whitaker's Almanack 204 The number of places of meeting for Religious Worship..on the 24th October, 1883, was 22,646... The new denominations are sixteen in number, but one, ‘Rational Christians’ [registered as a sect in 1876], has disappeared.
1989 R. Hole Pulpits, Polit. & Public Order in Eng. (2004) ix. 139 While the ‘rational Christian’ Priestley was at least lukewarm in his support, the deist Paine and atheist Godwin were hostile.
rational costume n. now historical = rational dress n.
ΚΠ
1866 Anglo-Amer. Times 24 Nov. 4/3 It is impossible, had convenience been consulted, that women could have appeared like inverted balloons, as they lately did... Happily a more rational costume is. coming into vogue.
1882 Truth 16 Mar. 394/3 Rational costume is based on these principles. 1. Distinct recognition of sex. 2. Desire of each sex to please the other. 3. Health. 4. Modesty. 5. Comfort. [etc.].
1899 Cyclists' Touring Club Gaz. Apr. 221 If..senior churchwardens protest against rational costume.
1942 J. H. Robb Primrose League v. 120 The ‘safety’ bicycle..eliminated the high bar connecting the two wheels... ‘Rational’ costume no longer being necessary, the feminine..woman as well as the ‘emancipated’ might take up the sport.
2001 S. A. Smith in D. Bauer & P. Gould Cambr. Compan. 19th-cent. Amer. Women's Writing ii. iii. 76 In 1851, Amelia Bloomer and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had designed their rational costume for women.
rational dress n. now historical a style of dress for women, designed to afford greater comfort and freedom of movement than conventional attire, esp. for cycling, and characterized by the wearing of bloomers or knickerbockers; (also) an outfit in this style.A movement advocating this form of dress rose to prominence in the late 19th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > other
disguise1340
disguisingc1386
shiftc1570
French cut1606
knaverya1616
small clothes1625
small storesa1643
nugging-dress1699
kilting1721
fancy dress1770
under-habit1772
man-millinery1790
sheen1802
costume1818
ingubu1833
bedizenment1837
tat1839
extravaganza1860
rational dress1873
rubber1876
pearly1890
new look1920
collection1921
Daks1933
smart casual1943
separates1945
trapeze1958
Carnaby Street1965
haute boutique1966
kinderwhore1994
1859 Evening Herald 2 Nov. 2/1 Under a rational method of dress the waist should suffer neither weight nor pressure.]
1873 Echo (London) 27 June 1/4 Appointed a Committee to regularly tackle the subject of rational dress, and see what can be done to promote it.
1881 Pall Mall Gaz. 26 May 2014/2 A society entitled ‘The Rational Dress Society’ has been formed, under the presidency of the Viscountess Harberton.
1899 Times 25 Sept. 5/4 About half of these were ladies wearing the rational dress.
1932 A. Bott & I. Clephane Our Mothers 4 The freedom of the limbs was neither won nor sought, except by a few cranks for ‘rational dress’.
1981 P. Craig & M. Cadogan Lady Investigates i. 26 The stories contain allusions to rational dress and the new status of women.
2012 J. Walkowitz Nights Out ii. 51 She supported rational dress as a way for women to present themselves in public..unconstrained by inconvenient and constricting fashions.
rational-emotive adj. (also with capital initials) Psychology of or designating a type of psychotherapy which advocates a pragmatic, individualistic approach to changing unhealthy or irrational thoughts; esp. in rational-emotive therapy, rational-emotive behaviour therapy.
ΚΠ
1962 Marriage & Family Living 24 (back cover) (advt.) Dr. Ellis is developer of the Rational-Emotive Method of Psychotherapy.
1973 Bucks County (Pa.) Sunday Courier Times 24 June (Accent! Suppl.) 14/2 Rational Emotive Therapy breaks down false systems of beliefs.
1997 M. London Job Feedback ix. 137 Rational-emotive techniques have been used to provide social support and job search skills to unemployed workers.
2001 Courier Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 22 Mar. 12 They..advocate a psychological treatment program called rational emotive behaviour therapy.
rational expectations n. Economics the theory that participants in economic activity forecast the future rationally by using all available information, and that therefore prices will change only when new information becomes available; frequently attributive.
ΚΠ
1960 J. F. Muth in Econometrica 28 704 Finally, it is shown that the rational expectations hypothesis is in good agreement with the facts, at least if one views the empirical results generously.
1982 Jrnl. Finance 37 471 In a rational expectations model asymmetrically informed investors must learn something from the equilibrium prices.
2006 Financial Times (Nexis) 17 Nov. 13 The ‘new classical economics’..was based on rational expectations and rapid market clearing.
rational formula n. [after German rationelle Formel (1834 in Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte der physischen Wissensch. 13, 186, in a translation of a Swedish text by Berzelius)] Chemistry a chemical formula that gives the number and types of atoms in a compound with an indication of the groups and radicals present (contrasted with empirical formula; cf. also structural formula n. at structural adj. Compounds).
ΚΠ
1837 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 127 51 Quadroxalate of potash... Rational formula... K̇ ĊĊ + ḢĊĊ+ 2(Ḣ ĊĊḢ2).
1871 H. E. Roscoe Lessons Elem. Chem. (new ed.) 295 In order to distinguish between these isomeric bodies, it is necessary to employ rational formulæ, for the purpose of giving an idea of the chemical nature of the substances.
1926 J. Read Text-bk. Org. Chem. iv. 49 Shortened structural formulæ, such as C2H5.COOH..are sometimes called rational formulæ.
1995 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 117 1140/1 The rational formula of TiO0.88(OH)2.16(OC4H9)0.08 was suggested from the elemental analysis.
ΚΠ
1745Rational Fraction [see sense A. 7b].
1823 J. Mitchell Dict. Math. & Physical Sci. Rational Fractions is the term commonly used to express those fractions which may be decomposed into other fractions, the sum of which is equal to the given fraction.
1850 U. Parke Lect. Philos. Arithm. (ed. 4) viii. 124 No root of a Surd can be expressed by an integer, nor by any rational fraction.
1871 E. Olney Gen. Geom. & Calculus iv. 118 Whatever the denominator of a rational fraction, as f(x)dx/ ϕ(x), whose numerator is of lower dimensions than its denominator, [etc.].
rational horizon n. [compare post-classical Latin horizon rationalis (a1658)] Astronomy (now rare) a great circle of the celestial sphere that is parallel to the horizon and whose centre is the centre of the earth; = horizon n. 3a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > celestial sphere > circle of celestial sphere > [noun] > great circle > horizon
horizonc1400
finitor1594
rational horizon1599
1599 T. Hill Schoole of Skil ii. 212 The Pole of the rational horizon, is the verticall point. for it is distant by a quarter of the greatest cyrcle, that is, 90. degrees, from the compasse round about of the horizon.
1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 46 The rationall horizon in heav'n is but one, and the sensible horizons in earth are innumerable.
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. (at cited word) The Rational, Real or True Horizon, is a Circle which encompasses the Earth exactly in the Middle, and whose Poles are the Zenith and Nadir.
1833 J. F. W. Herschel Astronomy i. 52 If we suppose a spectator..to have his view bounded by the rational horizon.
1873 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. iv. 146 The rational, or true horizon, is a great circle of the heavens, the plane of which..passes through the centre of the Earth.
1974 D. N. Lapedes McGraw-Hill Dict. Sci. & Techn. Terms 238/2 Celestial horizon... Also known as rational horizon.
rational mechanics n. [compare post-classical Latin mechanica rationalis (1687 in Newton Principia)] the branch of mechanics in which models, propositions, etc., are deduced mathematically from first principles, rather than being derived from experimental evidence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > [noun] > types of mechanics generally
rational mechanics1667
statistical mechanics1885
1667 T. Sprat Hist. Royal-Soc. iii. 393 The greatest Part of them [sc. Arts] has bin produc'd, either by Luxury, or chance, or necessity: all which must be confess'd to be mean, and ignoble causes of the Rational Mechanics.
1729 A. Motte tr. I. Newton Math. Princ. Nat. Philos. I. p. ix In this sense Rational Mechanics will be the science of motions resulting from any forces whatsoever and of the forces required to produce any motions, accurately proposed and demonstrated.
1780 W. Ludlam Ess. Newton’s Second Law of Motion 3 Such general principles in rational mechanics, are called rules or Laws of Motion.
1822 F. Horner Life Euler in J. Hewlett tr. L. Euler Elem. Algebra (ed. 3) p. xv The theory of rational mechanics, the whole range of physical astronomy,..were successively subjected to the analytical method.
1977 C. Truesdell First Course Rational Continuum Mech. i. 4 Rational Mechanics is the part of mathematics that provides and develops logical models for the enforced changes of position and shape which we see everyday things suffer.
2001 Philos. Sci. 68 289 The Principia..initiated a remarkable century of achievement in rational mechanics.
rational philosophy n. [after classical Latin philosophia ratiōnālis] a form of philosophy which emphasizes the role or significance of reason, esp. as opposed to sense experience: sometimes contrasted with moral and natural philosophy; cf. rationalism n.
ΚΠ
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) vi. 3295 (MED) Ther be thre partes..Into which philosophie is deuyded. The firste..is morall, Which directeth a man to goode thewes; And the secounde, callid naturall, Tellith the kynde of goode men & shrewes; And the thridde, racounal, weel shewes What men shal uoide & what thing vndirfonge.
1603 T. North tr. Plutarch Lives (new ed.) ii. 82 Morall Philosophie was his chiefest end: for the rationall, the naturall, and the Mathematickes..were but simple pastimes in comparison of the other.
1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus iv. 60 And of this nature are Morals in Philosophy, because they do componere animum, as natural Philosophy does search into causes of things, and rational Philosophy discuss the propriety of words, and structure of Arguments.
1744 Introd. Study Philos. i. 9 Rational Philosophy..teaches us by what Rules and Means to cultivate and improve our Rational Powers of Thinking and Speaking, in Logic, and in Grammar, and Rhetoric.
1793 T. Hardy Addr. to People 29 They have broken the bonds both of sacred and civil duty; they neither fear God, nor honour the king, and this they call philosophy. It is not rational philosophy, nor natural philosophy, nor moral philosophy.
1894 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 5 122 Historic criticism and rational philosophy are not the enemies, but the friends of religion and the higher morality.
1988 Washington Post (Nexis) 22 May g2 All of that from a man who graduated from Georgetown University as the winner of the Ryan Medal for Rational Philosophy.
2005 K. Ameriks in K. L. Reinhold Lett. Kantian Philos. Introd. p. xviii For a long time they [sc. Enlightenment philosophers] continued to assert that rational philosophy and ‘natural teleology’ point toward at least the likelihood of a God who provides a meaningful existence..for human individuals.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1a1398
n.21610
adj.adv.a1398