reasonable

English

Etymology

From Middle English resonable, from Old French resnable, from Late Latin rationabilis, from Latin ratio; more at reason, -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹiː.zən.ə.bəl/, /ˈɹiːz.nə.bəl/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): [ˈɹɪiz.nə.bəl]
• Hyphenation: rea‧son‧able

Adjective

reasonable (comparative more reasonable, superlative most reasonable)

1. (now rare) Having the faculty of reason; rational, reasoning.
   • 1634, William Wood, “Beasts Living in the Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 25:

     The wiſdome and underſtanding of this Beaſt [the beaver], vvill almoſt conclude him a reaſonable creature: […]

2. Just; fair; agreeable to reason.
   • 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1]:

     The episode also opens with an inspired bit of business for Homer, who blithely refuses to acquiesce to an elderly neighbor’s utterly reasonable request that he help make the process of selling her house easier by wearing pants when he gallivants about in front of windows […]

3. Not excessive or immoderate; within due limits; proper.

   a reasonable demand, amount, or price

4. Not expensive; fairly priced.

   $20 a bottle is very reasonable for a good wine at a restaurant.

   • Say, would you happen to know a good place for lunch in the downtown area? ... The Radisson ... Oh yah? ... Is it reasonable? - Marge Gunderson in Fargo (1996)
5. Satisfactory.

   The builders did a reasonable job, given the short notice.

Synonyms

• reasonous

 

Antonyms

• arbitrary
• unreasonable

 

Derived terms

• beyond a reasonable doubt
• beyond reasonable doubt
• reasonability
• reasonable doubt
• reasonableness
• reasonable person
• reasonable time
• reasonably

 

Translations

just; fair; agreeable to reason

• Albanian: arsyeshëm (sq)
• Arabic: مَعْقُول (ar) (maʕqūl)

  Egyptian Arabic: معقول (maʕʔūl)

  Hijazi Arabic: مَعْقول (maʕgūl)

• Armenian: ողջամիտ (hy) (oġǰamit)
• Asturian: razonable
• Belarusian: разу́мны (razúmny)
• Bulgarian: разу́мен (bg) (razúmen), приемлив (bg) (priemliv)
• Catalan: raonable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 合理 (hap⁶ lei⁵)

  Mandarin: 合理 (zh) (hélǐ), 有理 (zh) (yǒulǐ), 在理 (zh) (zàilǐ)

• Czech: rozumný (cs)
• Finnish: kunnollinen (fi)
• French: correct (fr), juste (fr), raisonnable (fr)
• Galician: razoable (gl), razoábel (gl)
• German: vernünftig (de)
• Greek: δικαιολογημένος (el) (dikaiologiménos), τίμιος (el) (tímios), λογικός (el) (logikós)
• Hungarian: észszerű (hu), jogos (hu), indokolt (hu), méltányos (hu), elfogadható (hu), józan (hu)
• Irish: réasúnta, ciallmhar
• Italian: ragionevole (it)
• Latin: modicus
• Norman: raisonnabl'ye
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rimelig (no), fornuftig (no)

  Nynorsk: rimeleg, fornuftig

• Occitan: rasonable (oc)
• Persian: معقول (ma'qul)
• Polish: uzasadniony (pl)
• Portuguese: razoável (pt), sensato (pt)
• Romanian: rezonabil (ro)
• Russian: разу́мный (ru) (razúmnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: reusanta, cothromach
• Spanish: razonable (es)
• Swedish: rimlig (sv)
• Turkish: makul (tr)
• Vietnamese: hợp lí (vi)

not excessive or immoderate; within due limits; proper

• German: angemessen (de)
• Hungarian: helyénvaló (hu), korrekt (hu)

not expensive; fairly priced

• Albanian: arsyeshëm (sq)
• Arabic: مَعْقُول (ar) (maʕqūl)
• Bulgarian: умерен (bg) (umeren)
• Czech: rozumný (cs)
• Dutch: fatsoenlijk (nl)
• Finnish: kohtuullinen (fi)
• German: vernünftig (de), anständig (de)
• Greek: οφειλόμενος (el) (ofeilómenos), τίμιος (el) (tímios), λογικός (el) (logikós)
• Hungarian: (product with such a price) méltányos árú / áron elérhető, (price) reális (hu), megfizethető (hu), elfogadható (hu), jutányos (hu), méltányos (hu)
• Irish: réasúnta
• Italian: moderato (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rimelig (no)

  Nynorsk: rimeleg

• Polish: rozsądny (pl)
• Portuguese: em conta (pt)
• Romanian: rezonabil (ro)
• Russian: недорого́й (ru) (nedorogój), за разу́мную це́ну (za razúmnuju cénu)
• Spanish: módico (es)

satisfactory

• Albanian: arsyeshëm (sq)
• Bulgarian: удовлетворителен (bg) (udovletvoritelen)
• Czech: rozumný (cs)
• Finnish: sopiva (fi), joltinenkin, järkeenkäypä (fi)
• French: satisfaisant (fr)
• German: vernünftig (de), anständig (de)
• Greek: ευάρεστος (el) (evárestos), λογικός (el) (logikós)
• Hungarian: elfogadható (hu), megfelelő (hu), kielégítő (hu), (verb) elmegy (hu)
• Norwegian: fornuftig (no)
• Polish: satysfakcjonujący (pl)
• Portuguese: satisfatório (pt)
• Romanian: satisfăcător (ro)
• Russian: удовлетвори́тельный (ru) (udovletvorítelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: reusanta

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Greek: ^{(please verify)} εύλογος (el) (évlogos), ^{(please verify)} λογικευόμενος (logikevómenos), ^{(please verify)} αιτιολογημένος (el) (aitiologiménos), ^{(please verify)} επάξιος (el) (epáxios), ^{(please verify)} ικανοποιητικός (el) (ikanopoiitikós), ^{(please verify)} δίκαιος (el) (díkaios), ^{(please verify)} έντιμος (el) (éntimos)