ratiocination
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
- ratiocinative adjective
Etymology
Origin of ratiocination
1520–30; < Latin ratiōcinātiōn- (stem of ratiōcinātiō ), equivalent to ratiōcināt ( us ) ( ratiocinate ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Take your time and think things through logically. That's what it means to use ratiocination to solve a problem. To correctly pronounce ratiocination say, "rat-ee-oh-seh-NA-shun." Ratiocination uses reason or logic to figure something out. It might involve determining probabilities, syllogisms, even mathematical formulas, or simply following all the steps in a process that you believe will lead you to the correct or best answer. Ratiocination is the opposite of taking a wild guess or just "going with your gut."
Vocabulary lists containing ratiocination
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
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Society and Solitude
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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Once again, using the obtuse ratiocination of her characters, DeWitt aims at nothing less than expanding readerly consciousness, gesturing toward a world of untapped possibility freed from convention.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2022
Certain things that happen before the age of reason exists beyond the reach of ratiocination.
From Slate • Nov. 23, 2011
Despite the sudden flurry of interest in the Negro's plight, the spate of committees ordered to probe the ghettos' blight, and the rash of ratiocination in the press, Young warns that "time is running out."
From Time Magazine Archive
But ratiocination isn't welcome in modern movies, which prefer visceral impact over intellect.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the midst of all the postmortem ratiocination, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that climbing mountains will never be a safe, predictable, rule-bound enterprise.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
