- present participle of reason.
noun
-
the act or process of drawing conclusions from facts, evidence, etc
-
the arguments, proofs, etc, so adduced
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reasoning
First recorded in 1325–75, reasoning is from the Middle English word resoninge. See reason, -ing 2
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."
Vocabulary lists containing reasoning
Argumentative Writing
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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The AP English Exam: The Language of the Test
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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.
If Chinese companies can do leading-edge AI better and more efficiently with open-weight models, the reasoning goes, plans to spend untold sums on data centers and chips might need reworking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Nobody really chooses to understand the reasoning why.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Understanding exactly how the human brain performs reasoning remains an open area of research.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
The researchers adjusted the difficulty of the puzzles to determine which parts of the brain became more active as reasoning demands increased.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Either way, I didn’t care about Casey’s reasoning.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
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.
