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rationale

UK/ˌɹæʃ.əˈnɑːl/US/ˌɹæʃ.əˈnæl/
nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,486 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: rationales

A rationale is the set of reasons behind a decision or study. State the rationale, the rationale for it, a clear rationale.

It is the reasoning offered rather than the motive held, which is why a rationale can be perfectly sound and entirely after the fact. In research writing it is a required section: why this study, why now. Note the pronunciation — rash-uh-NAHL, four syllables — and that it is not the adjective rational.

Definitions of rationale

  1. 1nounrationaleThe set of reasons behind a decision or study.C1

    “The minister explained the rationale behind the new tax.”

rationale is a set of reasons.

Also accepted in games: reasoning

Where it comes from

Latin rationale is the neuter of rationalis, from ratio, reason. Ratio, rate and reason come from the same reckoning.

  1. Latin

    ratiōnāle

  2. English, today

    rationale

From Latin ratiōnāle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Academic English

Practise this word

rationale in the wild

  • There are various rationales that have been used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Iraq War, and subsequent hostilities.

    Rationale for the Iraq War

  • The rationale used for near-threatened taxa usually includes the criteria of vulnerable which are plausible or nearly met, such as reduction in numbers or range.

    Near-threatened species

  • A design rationale is an explicit documentation of the reasons behind decisions made when designing a system or artifact.

    Design rationale

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.