reason
rea·son/ˈɹiːzən/noun, verb
reason is spelled R-E-A-S-O-N, 2 syllables: rea·son. The wrong spelling people search most is reson: about 220 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 30 of all searches for the word. Reason is a noun meaning “That which causes something: an efficient cause, a proximate cause”. The plural of reason is reasons.
How many letters and syllables are in reason?
| Letters | 6: R-E-A-S-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: rea·son |
| In writing | 209 times per million words; the 483rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, reson, about 220 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell reason?
Reason is spelled R-E-A-S-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 30 of the searches for reason in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is reason?
Reason appears 209 times per million words in written English, the 483rd 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 reason?
- /ˈɹiːzən/
- [ˈɹʷɪi̯zən] ~ [ˈɹʷɪi̯zn̩]
Reason has 2 syllables, split rea·son in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-reason.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of reason
- reasons plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- reasoning participle, present
- reasoned participle, past
- rasen
- raisen
- raysin
- raison
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does reason mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
That which causes something: an efficient cause, a proximate cause.
The reason this tree fell is that it had rotted.
- 2
A motive for an action or a determination.
He made reason with his boss about taking a day off.
- 3
An excuse: a thought or a consideration offered in support of a determination or an opinion; that which is offered or accepted as an explanation.
- 4
A premise placed after its conclusion.
- 5
Rational thinking (or the capacity for it); the cognitive faculties, collectively, of conception, judgment, deduction and intuition.
Mankind should develop reason above all other virtues.
- 6
obsoleteSomething reasonable, in accordance with thought; justice.
16th century Edmund Spenser, Lines on his Promised Pension I was promised, on a time, To have reason for my rhyme.
- 7
obsoleteRatio; proportion.
- 8
A wall plate.
verb
- 1
To deduce or come to a conclusion by being rational.
- 2
To perform a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to argue.
- 3
obsoleteTo converse; to compare opinions.
- 4
To arrange and present the reasons for or against; to examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss.
I reasoned the matter with my friend.
- 5
rareTo support with reasons, as a request.
- 6
To persuade by reasoning or argument.
to reason one into a belief; to reason one out of his plan
- 7
To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons.
to reason down a passion
- 8
To find by logical process; to explain or justify by reason or argument.
to reason out the causes of the librations of the moon
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Reason in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | raison, cause |
| German | Grund, Ursache , Verstand, Vernunft , schlussfolgern , vernünftig argumentieren |
| Portuguese | causa, motivo, razão , raciocinar , argumentar |
| Spanish | razón, causa , razonar |
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 reason come from?
From Middle English resoun, reson, from Anglo-Norman raisun (Old French raison), from Latin ratiō, from ratus, past participle of reor (“reckon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- (“to think”), reanalysed root of *h₂er- (“to put together”). Displaced native Middle English reden (found in compounds), from Old English rǣden (“condition, stipulation, calculation, direction”), from the same Proto-Indo-European source (compare West Frisian reden (“reason”), Dutch reden (“reason”)). Doublet of ration and ratio.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).