RATIONAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does rational mean? 

• RATIONAL (noun)
  The noun RATIONAL has 1 sense:

1. an integer or a fraction

  Familiarity information: RATIONAL used as a noun is very rare.

• RATIONAL (adjective)
  The adjective RATIONAL has 4 senses:

1. consistent with or based on or using reason

2. of or associated with or requiring the use of the mind

3. capable of being expressed as a quotient of integers

4. having its source in or being guided by the intellect (as distinguished from experience or emotion)

  Familiarity information: RATIONAL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RATIONAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An integer or a fraction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

rational; rational number

Hypernyms ("rational" is a kind of...):

real; real number (any rational or irrational number)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rational"):

fraction (the quotient of two rational numbers)

• RATIONAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consistent with or based on or using reason

Context example:

rational thought

Similar:

coherent; logical; lucid (capable of thinking and expressing yourself in a clear and consistent manner)

demythologised; demythologized (having mythical elements removed)

intelligent; reasoning; thinking (endowed with the capacity to reason)

reasonable; sane (marked by sound judgment)

Also:

logical (capable of or reflecting the capability for correct and valid reasoning)

reasonable; sensible (showing reason or sound judgment)

sane (mentally healthy; free from mental disorder)

Antonym:

irrational (not consistent with or using reason)

Derivation:

rationality (the state of having good sense and sound judgment)

rationalness (the quality of being consistent with or based on logic)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or associated with or requiring the use of the mind

Synonyms:

intellectual; noetic; rational

Context example:

the triumph of the rational over the animal side of man

Similar:

mental (involving the mind or an intellectual process)

Derivation:

rationality (the quality of being consistent with or based on logic)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Capable of being expressed as a quotient of integers

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

rational numbers

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Antonym:

irrational (real but not expressible as the quotient of two integers)

Pertainym:

ratio (the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient))

Derivation:

rationalness (the quality of being consistent with or based on logic)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Having its source in or being guided by the intellect (as distinguished from experience or emotion)

Context example:

a rational analysis

Similar:

intellectual (appealing to or using the intellect)

Derivation:

rationality; rationalness (the quality of being consistent with or based on logic)

 Context examples 

We found him in a state of considerable excitement, but far more rational in his speech and manner than I had ever seen him.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I have been walking over the country, and am now, I hope, rational enough to make the rest of my letter what it ought to be.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“Your sister, Betsey Trotwood,” said my aunt, “would have been as natural and rational a girl as ever breathed. You'll be worthy of her, won't you?”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But when he heard my voice, and found what I delivered to be regular and rational, he could not conceal his astonishment.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

This is not like yourself, your rational self.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

This must be love, she thought, in the one rational moment that was vouchsafed her.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was the most rational remark which I had heard in Enmore Park.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The situation was something that really exceeded rational formulas for conduct and demanded more than the cold conclusions of reason.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But I hate to hear you talking so like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

“Now I must give one smirk, and then we may be rational again.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)