RATIONAL


Meaning of RATIONAL in English

I. ˈrash-nəl, ˈra-shə-n ə l 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

II. noun

Date: 1606

: something rational ; specifically : rational number

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.