Ratiocinate
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To use the powers of the mind logically and methodically; to reason. intransitive, transitive
""Observe the relative position," returned the Doctor with a smile. "It is your attitude to believe through thick and thin in one man's judgment—your own. I follow the same opinion, but critically and with open eyes. Which is the more irrational—I leave it to yourself." "Oh, my dear fellow!" cried Casimir, "[…] don't ratiocinate with me.""
- 2 reason methodologically and logically wordnet
Example
More examples""Observe the relative position," returned the Doctor with a smile. "It is your attitude to believe through thick and thin in one man's judgment—your own. I follow the same opinion, but critically and with open eyes. Which is the more irrational—I leave it to yourself." "Oh, my dear fellow!" cried Casimir, "[…] don't ratiocinate with me.""
Etymology
From Latin ratiocinor (“to reckon, argue”). First use appears c. 1643 in the writings of Kenelm Digby.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.