rational: Meaning and Definition of
ra•tion•al
Pronunciation: (rash'u-nl, rash'nl), [key]
— adj.
- agreeable to reason; reasonable; sensible: a rational plan for economic development.
- having or exercising reason, sound judgment, or good sense: a calm and rational negotiator.
- being in or characterized by full possession of one's reason; sane; lucid: The patient appeared perfectly rational.
- endowed with the faculty of reason: rational beings.
- of, pertaining to, or constituting reasoning powers: the rational faculty.
- proceeding or derived from reason or based on reasoning: a rational explanation.
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- capable of being expressed exactly by a ratio of two integers.
- (of a function) capable of being expressed exactly by a ratio of two polynomials.
- capable of measurement in terms of the metrical unit or mora.
—n.
- See
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.