Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Reason in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels reason as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Reason

[Cf. F. raisonner. See Reason, n.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordreason
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[Cf. F. raisonner. See Reason, n.]
Selected historical definitionTo exercise the rational faculty; to deduce inferences from premises; to perform the process of deduction or of induction; to ratiocinate; to reach conclusions by a systematic comparison of facts.
Signed record IDwebster1913-reason-verb-67aad2622c77
Source locatorCIDE.R, paragraph 2002; Gutenberg eBook 667
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 667Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "reason" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[Cf. F. raisonner. See Reason, n.]" The selected historical definition says: "To exercise the rational faculty; to deduce inferences from premises; to perform the process of deduction or of induction; to ratiocinate; to reach conclusions by a systematic comparison of facts."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-09-05

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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