English
reasonable
Reasonable comes from Middle English resonable, from Old French resnable ‘wise’, from Latin ratiōnābilis ‘rational’, from ratiō ‘reason’, from reor ‘to reckon’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreor‘to reckon, think’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEratiō‘reason’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEratiōnābilis‘rational’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400resnable‘wise’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500resonable
- Englishearliest quotation 1634reasonable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreor‘to reckon, think’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEratiō‘reason’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEratiōnābilis‘rational’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400resnable‘wise’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500resonable
- Englishearliest quotation 1634reasonable
Earliest quotation: 1634, William Wood, Beasts Living in the Water: “The wiſdome and underſtanding of this Beaſt [the beaver],…”
Equivalent to reason + -able
Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to put together’
…
Latin ratus ‘considered’
Latin ratiō ‘reason’
Anglo-Norman raisun
Middle English resoun
English reason
Linked words
through Latin reor ‘to compute’
rate, rational, irritate, ration, ratify, 13 more
through Classical Latin ratiō ‘reason, reasoning, explanation, ground,…’
Today it means
adj Having the faculty of reason; rational, reasoning.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin reor / reasonable