Etymology
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rationality (n.)

1620s, "quality of having reason;" 1650s, "fact of being agreeable to reason," from French rationalité and directly from Late Latin rationalitas "reasonableness, rationality" (also source of Spanish racionalidad, Italian razionalita), from Latin rationalis "of or belonging to reason, reasonable" (see rational). Middle English had racionabilite "the faculty of reason" (early 15c.), from Latin rationabilitas.

Entries linking to rationality

rational (adj.)

late 14c., racional, "pertaining to or springing from reason;" mid-15c., of persons, "endowed with reason, having the power of reasoning," from Old French racionel and directly from Latin rationalis "of or belonging to reason, reasonable," from ratio (genitive rationis) "reckoning, calculation, reason" (see ratio).

In arithmetic, "expressible in finite terms," 1560s. Meaning "conformable to the precepts of practical reason" is from 1630s. Related: Rationally. It is from the same source as ratio and ration; the sense in rational is aligned with that in related reason (n.), which got deformed in French.

updated on April 29, 2021

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Definitions of rationality from WordNet

rationality (n.)
the state of having good sense and sound judgment;
his rationality may have been impaired
Synonyms: reason / reasonableness
rationality (n.)
the quality of being consistent with or based on logic;
Synonyms: rationalness
From wordnet.princeton.edu, not affiliated with etymonline.

Dictionary entries near rationality

ration

rational

rationale

rationalise

rationalist

rationality

rationalization

rationalize

rationing

ratline

rat-pack

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