adj.
Pronunciation: ' rash-n ə l, ' ra-sh ə -n ə l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English racional, from Anglo-French racionel, from Latin rationalis, from ration-, ratio
Date: 14th century
1 a : having reason or understanding b : relating to, based on, or agreeable to reason : REASONABLE <a rational explanation> < rational behavior>
2 : involving only multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction and only a finite number of times
3 : relating to, consisting of, or being one or more rational numbers <a rational root of an equation>
– ra · tio · nal · ly adverb
– ra · tio · nal · ness noun