 6 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
rational
adjective
1: consistent with or based on or using reason; "rational
behavior"; "a process of rational inference";
"rational thought" [ant: {irrational}]
2: of or associated with or requiring the use of the mind;
"intellectual problems"; "the triumph of the rational over
the animal side of man" [syn: {intellectual}, {noetic}]
3: capable of being expressed as a quotient of integers;
"rational numbers" [ant: {irrational}]
4: having its source in or being guided by the intellect
(distinguished from experience or emotion); "a rational
analysis"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Rational \Ra"tion*al\ (r[a^]sh"[u^]n*al), adjective [L. rationalis: cf.
F. rationnel. See {Ratio}, {Reason}, and cf. {Rationale}.]
1. Relating to the reason; not physical; mental.
Moral philosophy was his chiefest end; for the
rational, the natural, and mathematics . . . were
but simple pastimes in comparison of the other.
--Sir T.
North.
2. Having reason, or the faculty of reasoning; endowed with
reason or understanding; reasoning.
It is our glory and happiness to have a rational
nature. --Law.
3. Agreeable to reason; not absurd, preposterous,
extravagant, foolish, fanciful, or the like; wise;
judicious; as, rational conduct; a rational man.
4. (Chem.) Expressing the type, structure, relations, and
reactions of a compound; graphic; -- said of formul[ae].
See under {Formula}.
{Rational horizon}. (Astron.) See {Horizon}, 2
(b) .
{Rational quantity} (Alg.), one that can be expressed without
the use of a radical sign, or in exact parts of unity; --
opposed to {irrational} or {radical quantity}.
{Rational symptom} (Med.), one elicited by the statements of
the patient himself and not as the result of a physical
examination.
Syn: Sane; sound; intelligent; reasonable; sensible; wise;
discreet; judicious.
Usage: {Rational}, {reasonable}. Rational has reference to
reason as a faculty of the mind, and is opposed to
irrational; as, a rational being, a rational state of
mind, rational views, etc. In these cases the
speculative reason is more particularly, referred to.
Reasonable has reference to the exercise of this
faculty for practical purposes, and means, governed or
directed by reason; as, reasonable desires or plans; a
reasonable charge; a reasonable prospect of success.
What higher in her society thou find'st
Attractive, human, rational, love still.
--Milton.
A law may be reasonable in itself, although a
man does not allow it, or does not know the
reason of the lawgivers. --Swift.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Rational \Ra"tion*al\, noun
A rational being. --Young.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
140 Moby Thesaurus words for "rational":
acceptable, admissible, algorismic, algorithmic, aliquot,
all there, analytic, balanced, bright, calm, cardinal, cerebral,
circumspect, clear-eyed, clearheaded, clearminded, cogent,
commonsense, compos mentis, conceptive, conceptual, consequent,
cool, coolheaded, credible, decimal, differential, digital,
discriminating, discursive, down-to-earth, earthy, endopsychic,
enlightened, even, everyday, exponential, figural, figurate,
figurative, finite, fractional, hardheaded, healthy-minded,
ideational, imaginary, impair, impossible, infinite, informed,
integral, intellectual, intelligent, internal, irrational,
judicious, just, justifiable, knowing, knowledgeable, legitimate,
level-headed, levelheaded, logarithmic, logical, logometric, lucid,
matter-of-fact, mental, mentally sound, negative, noetic,
noological, normal, not so dumb, numeral, numerary, numerative,
numeric, odd, of sound mind, ordinal, pair, philosophical, phrenic,
plausible, positive, positivistic, possible, practical,
practical-minded, pragmatic, prime, prudent, psychic, psychologic,
radical, ratiocinative, ratiocinatory, real, realist, realistic,
reasonable, reasoning, reciprocal, right, sane, sane-minded,
scientific, scientistic, secular, sensible, sober, sober-minded,
sophic, sound, sound-minded, sound-thinking, spiritual, stable,
straight-thinking, strong-minded, subjective, submultiple, surd,
thinking, together, transcendental, understanding, unideal,
unidealistic, unromantic, unsentimental, well-argued,
well-balanced, well-founded, well-grounded, wholesome, wise,
worldly
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
rational
[Mathematics] a fractional number n/d, where n and d are
integers, n is the numerator and d is the denominator. The
set of all rational numbers is usually called Q.
Computers do not usually deal with rational numbers but
instead convert them to {real} numbers which are represented
(approximately in some cases) as {floating-point} numbers.
Compare {irrational}.
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
RATIONAL, adjective Devoid of all delusions save those of observation,
experience and reflection.
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