reason

rea•son

[[t]ˈri zən[/t]] n.

1) a basis or cause, as for some belief, action, fact, or event

2) a statement presented in justification or explanation of a belief or action

3) the mental powers concerned with forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences

4) sound judgment; good sense

5) normal or sound powers of mind; sanity

6) pho logic a premise of an argument

7) pho Philos.

a) the faculty or power of acquiring intellectual knowledge, either by direct understanding of first principles or by argument

b) the power of intelligent and dispassionate thought, or of conduct influenced by such thought

8) to think or argue in a logical manner

9) to form conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises

10) to urge reasons that should determine belief or action

11) to think through logically, as a problem (often fol. by out)

12) to conclude or infer

13) to convince, persuade, etc., by reasoning

14) to support with reasons

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- by reason ofin or within reasonwith reason

Etymology: 1175–1225; ME resoun, reisun (n.) < OF reisun, reson < L ratiōnem, acc. of ratiō reckoning, reason; see ratio rea′son•er, n. usage: The construction reason is because is criticized in a number of usage guides: The reason for the long delays was because the costs far exceeded the original estimates. One objection is based on redundancy: the word because (literally, by cause) contains within it the meaning “reason.” A second objection is based on the claim that because can introduce only adverbial clauses and that reason is requires completion by a noun clause. Critics would substitute that for because in the offending construction: The reason for the long delays was that the costs. … Nevertheless, reason is because is still common in almost all levels of speech and occurs often in edited writing as well. A similar charge of redundancy is made against the reason why, which is also a well-established idiom: The reason why the bill failed to pass was the defection of three key senators. Both phrases are easy to avoid if desired.