| Noun | 1. | rationalisation - (psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your true motivation is concealed by explaining your actions and feelings in a way that is not threateningrationalizationpsychiatry, psychological medicine, psychopathology - the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disordersdefence, defence mechanism, defence reaction, defense mechanism, defense reaction, defense - (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires |
| 2. | rationalisation - the cognitive process of making something seem consistent with or based on reasonrationalizationexplanation - thought that makes something comprehensibleraison d'etre - reason for being |
| 3. | rationalisation - (mathematics) the simplification of an expression or equation by eliminating radicals without changing the value of the expression or the roots of the equationrationalizationsimplification - elimination of superfluous detailsmath, mathematics, maths - a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement |
| 4. | rationalisation - the organization of a business according to scientific principles of management in order to increase efficiencyrationalizationorganization, organisation - the act of organizing a business or an activity related to a business; "he was brought in to supervise the organization of a new department" |
| 5. | rationalisation - systematic organization; the act of organizing something according to a system or a rationalesystematisation, systematization, rationalizationorganisation, organization - the activity or result of distributing or disposing persons or things properly or methodically; "his organization of the work force was very efficient"codification - the act of codifying; arranging in a systematic orderformalisation, formalization - the act of making formal (as by stating formal rules governing classes of expressions) |