REASON

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does reason mean? 

• REASON (noun)
  The noun REASON has 6 senses:

1. a rational motive for a belief or action

2. an explanation of the cause of some phenomenon

3. the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination

4. the state of having good sense and sound judgment

5. a justification for something existing or happening

6. a fact that logically justifies some premise or conclusion

  Familiarity information: REASON used as a noun is common.

• REASON (verb)
  The verb REASON has 3 senses:

1. decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion

2. present reasons and arguments

3. think logically

  Familiarity information: REASON used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REASON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A rational motive for a belief or action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting goals

Synonyms:

ground; reason

Context example:

the grounds for their declaration

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

rational motive (a motive that can be defended by reasoning or logical argument)

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

occasion (reason)

account; score (grounds)

wherefore; why (the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase 'the whys and wherefores')

Derivation:

reason (decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An explanation of the cause of some phenomenon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

the reason a steady state was never reached was that the back pressure built up too slowly

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

account; explanation (a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

intellect; reason; understanding

Context example:

we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil

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

faculty; mental faculty; module (one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind)

Derivation:

reason (think logically)

reason (decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion)

reason (present reasons and arguments)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The state of having good sense and sound judgment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

rationality; reason; reasonableness

Context example:

he had to rely less on reason than on rousing their emotions

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

saneness; sanity (normal or sound powers of mind)

Derivation:

reason (decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion)

reason (present reasons and arguments)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A justification for something existing or happening

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

cause; grounds; reason

Context example:

they had good reason to rejoice

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

justification (a statement in explanation of some action or belief)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A fact that logically justifies some premise or conclusion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

there is reason to believe he is lying

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

fact (a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred)

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

contraindication ((medicine) a reason that makes it inadvisable to prescribe a particular drug or employ a particular procedure or treatment)

indication ((medicine) a reason to prescribe a drug or perform a procedure)

• REASON (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they reason    ... he / she / it reasons   
Past simple: reasoned   
Past participle: reasoned   
-ing form: reasoning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

conclude; reason; reason out

Context example:

We reasoned that it was cheaper to rent than to buy a house

Hypernyms (to "reason" is one way to...):

cerebrate; cogitate; think (use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reason"):

induce (reason or establish by induction)

deduce; deduct; derive; infer (reason by deduction; establish by deduction)

syllogise; syllogize (reason by syllogisms)

feel; find (come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds)

deduce; infer (conclude by reasoning; in logic)

gather (conclude from evidence)

extrapolate; generalise; generalize; infer (draw from specific cases for more general cases)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They reason that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

reason (the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination)

reason (a rational motive for a belief or action)

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

reasoner (someone who reasons logically)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Present reasons and arguments

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

argue; reason

Hypernyms (to "reason" is one way to...):

lay out; present; represent (bring forward and present to the mind)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reason"):

re-argue (argue again)

expostulate (reason with (somebody) for the purpose of dissuasion)

defend; fend for; support (argue or speak in defense of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue reason
Sam wants to reason with Sue

Derivation:

reason (the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination)

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

reasoner (someone who reasons logically)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Think logically

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

The children must learn to reason

Hypernyms (to "reason" is one way to...):

cerebrate; cogitate; think (use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reason"):

speculate (talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion)

categorise; categorize (place into or assign to a category)

calculate; cipher; compute; cypher; figure; reckon; work out (make a mathematical calculation or computation)

ratiocinate (reason methodologically and logically)

theorize (construct a theory about)

theorize (form or construct theories)

rationalise away; rationalize away (substitute a natural for a supernatural explanation of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

reason (the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination)

reasoner (someone who reasons logically)

reasoning (thinking that is coherent and logical)

 Context examples 

There was reason for it, and none knew it better than she.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Even the sad, sour sisters should be kindly dealt with, because they have missed the sweetest part of life, if for no other reason.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Having to do with the ability to think and reason.

(Neurocognitive, NCI Dictionary)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient seem too cheerful or too happy for no reason?

(NPI - Seem Too Cheerful or Too Happy for No Reason, NCI Thesaurus)

Terminology associated with the reason for treatment codelist of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Standard Data Tabulation Model (SDTM).

(CDISC SDTM Reason For Treatment Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)

But biopsies are performed for many other reasons too.

(Biopsy, NIH)

For these reasons I was sorry to go; but for other reasons, unsubstantial enough, I was glad.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This can happen for many different reasons.

(Birth Weight, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Not that Buck reasoned it out.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Terminology associated with the reason for treatment interruption codelist of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Standard Data Tabulation Model (SDTM).

(CDISC SDTM Reason for Treatment Interruption Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)