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RATIONAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An integer or a fraction
Synonyms:
rational; rational number
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("rational" is a kind of...):
real; real number (any rational or irrational number)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rational"):
fraction (the quotient of two rational numbers)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having its source in or being guided by the intellect (as distinguished from experience or emotion)
Example:
a rational analysis
Classified under:
Similar:
intellectual (appealing to or using the intellect)
Derivation:
rationality; rationalness (the quality of being consistent with or based on logic)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of or associated with or requiring the use of the mind
Example:
the triumph of the rational over the animal side of man
Synonyms:
intellectual; noetic; rational
Classified under:
Similar:
mental (involving the mind or an intellectual process)
Derivation:
rationality (the quality of being consistent with or based on logic)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Consistent with or based on or using reason
Example:
rational thought
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
coherent; logical; lucid (capable of thinking and expressing yourself in a clear and consistent manner)
demythologised; demythologized (having mythical elements removed)
intelligent; reasoning; thinking (endowed with the capacity to reason)
reasonable; sane (marked by sound judgment)
Also:
logical (capable of or reflecting the capability for correct and valid reasoning)
reasonable; sensible (showing reason or sound judgment)
sane (mentally healthy; free from mental disorder)
Antonym:
irrational (not consistent with or using reason)
Derivation:
rationality (the state of having good sense and sound judgment)
rationalness (the quality of being consistent with or based on logic)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Capable of being expressed as a quotient of integers
Example:
rational numbers
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Domain category:
math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)
Antonym:
irrational (real but not expressible as the quotient of two integers)
Pertainym:
ratio (the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient))
Derivation:
rationalness (the quality of being consistent with or based on logic)
Context examples:
And you are never to stir out of doors till you can prove that you have spent ten minutes of every day in a rational manner.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
When I reflected on the work I had completed, no less a one than the creation of a sensitive and rational animal, I could not rank myself with the herd of common projectors.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
He was more rational, and once more he was chiefly interested in the land of little sticks and the cache by the river Dease.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Mr. Rivers! you quite put me out of patience: I am rational enough; it is you who misunderstand, or rather who affect to misunderstand.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The insights from this research may help guide scientists in the rational design of improved, more selective drugs.
(Scientists Discover Antibiotic Mechanism, NIH)
The field of study concerned with the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics.
(Philosophy, NCI Thesaurus)
Understanding how complexation affects both the structural and mechanical properties of DNA is an important step towards understanding the functional mechanisms of binding agents, and may also provide a key to more rational drug design.
(DNA Binding Agent, NCI Thesaurus)
The metric system units have to satisfy three conditions: one fundamental unit is defined for each quantity; multiples and fractions of fundamental units are created by adding prefixes (denoting powers of ten) to the names of the defined units; the fundamental units are defined rationally and are related to each other in a rational fashion.
(Metric System, NCI Thesaurus)
He knows he is wrong, and has nothing rational to urge.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
