rationalism
/ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəlɪzəm/noun
rationalism is spelled R-A-T-I-O-N-A-L-I-S-M: 11 letters. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rationalism means “The theory that reason is a source of knowledge independent of and superior to sense perception” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rationalism is rationalisms.
How many letters and syllables are in rationalism?
| Letters | 11: R-A-T-I-O-N-A-L-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is rationalism?
Rationalism appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rationalism?
- US /ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəlɪzəm/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-rationalism.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of rationalism
- rationalisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rationalism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The theory that reason is a source of knowledge independent of and superior to sense perception.
- 2
The theory that knowledge may be derived by deductions from a priori concepts (such as axioms, postulates or earlier deductions).
- 3
A view that the fundamental method for problem solving is through reason and experience rather than faith, inspiration, revelation, intuition or authority.
- 4
Elaboration of theories by use of reason alone without appeal to experience, such as in mathematical systems.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rationalism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense philosophical theory:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rationalisme |
| German | Rationalismus |
| Portuguese | racionalismo |
| Spanish | racionalismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rationalism come from?
From rational + -ism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).