reasoning

American  

[ree-zuh-ning, reez-ning] / ˈri zə nɪŋ, ˈriz nɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or process of a person who reasons.

2. the process of forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises.

3. the reasons, arguments, proofs, etc., resulting from this process.

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reasoning British  

/ ˈriːzənɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or process of drawing conclusions from facts, evidence, etc

2. the arguments, proofs, etc, so adduced

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Other Word Forms

• half-reasoning adjective
• nonreasoning adjective
• reasoningly adverb

Etymology

Origin of reasoning

First recorded in 1325–75, reasoning is from the Middle English word resoninge. See reason, -ing ²

Example Sentences

Specious ones to the left, weird ones to the right—all arise from motivated reasoning.

From The Wall Street Journal

The trouble with most theories about conspiratorial schemes—the weird ones of 4chan and the specious ones of the faculty lounges—is that they arise from motivated reasoning.

From The Wall Street Journal

Several of the main attorneys on the case told The Times they stopped advertising at that point, reasoning that any new plaintiffs would now mean less money for the existing ones.

From Los Angeles Times

But Prof Holmes insists that any student who uses AI tools should be aware of how its reasoning works and how the companies providing them handle data.

From BBC

“The president’s reasoning and factual conclusions are not unique to Mr. Gentile and should bear equally on Mr. Schneider’s sentence of incarceration.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• acumen
• analysis
• argument
• hypothesis
• inference
• interpretation
• premise
• proposition
• rationale
• thinking