Showing results for "reasoning"

• present participle of reason.

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

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Etymology

Origin of reasoning

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

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Explanation

Reasoning is a logical, thoughtful way of thinking. When your teacher explains the reasoning behind his classroom rules, he makes it clear exactly why and how he came up with them. Voters often want to understand the reasoning behind certain laws, and toddlers almost always want to know the reasoning behind rules about bedtime and wearing warm clothes on cold days. You can also use reasoning as an adjective, to describe someone who can think logically. A reasoning adult can make decisions for herself. The word comes from reason, which is rooted in the Old French raisoner, "discuss or argue," and the Late Latin rationare, "to discourse."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reasoning

But in July 2023, the federal district court dismissed his complaint, reasoning that Salazar didn’t count as a “consumer” under the statute because he was only subscribed to a newsletter, “not audio visual content.”

From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026

The self-declared modern-day Miss Marple warned Kenny to be on the lookout for anyone acting differently, reasoning that "if you're suddenly a traitor, you're going to be a bit on high alert".

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

The reasoning was that if animals had already existed at the time, such an unusually well-preserved fossil deposit should have captured evidence of them.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

Here’s an example of the same prompt presented to two Google models, the Gemini 3.1 Pro—generally used for tasks that require reasoning and judgment—and the less expensive, lighter, speedier Gemini 3 Flash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

In part, the answer depends upon evolutionary reasoning.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

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

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