different between reason vs answer

English

Etymology

From Middle English resoun, reson, from Anglo-Norman raisun (Old French raison), from Latin rati?, from ratus, past participle of reor (“reckon”). Doublet of ration and ratio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??i?z?n/
• Rhymes: -i?z?n
• Hyphenation: rea?son

Noun

reason (countable and uncountable, plural reasons)

1. A cause:
   1. That which causes something: an efficient cause, a proximate cause.
      • 1996, Daniel Clement Dennett, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life, page 198:

        There is a reason why so many should be symmetrical: The selective advantage in a symmetrical complex is enjoyed by all the subunits […]

   2. A motive for an action or a determination.
      • 1806, Anonymous, Select Notes to Book XXI, in, Alexander Pope, translator, The Odyssey of Homer, volume 6 (London, F.J. du Roveray), page 37:

        This is the reason why he proposes to offer a libation, to atone for the abuse of the day by their diversions.

      • 1881, Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady, chapter 10:

        Ralph Touchett, for reasons best known to himself, had seen fit to say that Gilbert Osmond was not a good fellow […]

   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.
      • 1966, Graham Greene, The Comedians (Penguin Classics edition, ?ISBN, page 14:

        I have forgotten the reason he gave for not travelling by air. I felt sure that it was not the correct reason, and that he suffered from a heart trouble which he kept to himself.

   4. (logic) A premise placed after its conclusion.
2. (uncountable) Rational thinking (or the capacity for it); the cognitive faculties, collectively, of conception, judgment, deduction and intuition.
   • 1970, Hannah Arendt, On Violence ?ISBN, page 62:

     And the specific distinction between man and beast is now, strictly speaking, no longer reason (the lumen naturale of the human animal) but science […]
3. (obsolete) Something 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.

4. (mathematics, obsolete) Ratio; proportion.
   • a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, The Usefulness of Mathematical Learning Explained and Demonstrated

     Geometrical Reasons

Synonyms

• (that which causes): cause
• (motive for an action): rationale, motive
• (thought offered in support): excuse

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

reason (third-person singular simple present reasons, present participle reasoning, simple past and past participle reasoned)

1. (intransitive) To deduce or come to a conclusion by being rational
   • 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band

     "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data. […] "

2. (intransitive) To perform a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to argue.
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To converse; to compare opinions.
4. (transitive, intransitive) 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.

   • 1901, Ralph Connor, The Man from Glengarry Chapter 9

     The talk was mainly between Aleck and Murdie, the others crowding eagerly about and putting in a word as they could. Murdie was reasoning good-humoredly, Aleck replying fiercely.

5. (transitive, rare) To support with reasons, as a request.
6. (transitive) To persuade by reasoning or argument.

   to reason one into a belief; to reason one out of his plan

   • 1816, Jane Austen, Emma Volume 2/Chapter 10

     That she was not immediately ready, Emma did suspect to arise from the state of her nerves; she had not yet possessed the instrument long enough to touch it without emotion; she must reason herself into the power of performance; and Emma could not but pity such feelings, whatever their origin, and could not but resolve never to expose them to her neighbour again.

7. (transitive, with down) To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons.

   to reason down a passion

8. (transitive, usually with out) To find by logical process; to explain or justify by reason or argument.

   to reason out the causes of the librations of the moon

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• reason at OneLook Dictionary Search
• reason in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• reason in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Roanes, Serano, arseno-, senora, señora

English

Wikiquote

Alternative forms

• answeare, aunswer, aunswere (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /???n.s?/, /?an.s?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?æn.s?/
• (æ-tensing, rhotic) IPA^(key): [?e?n.s?]
• (æ-tensing, non-rhotic) IPA^(key): [?e?n.s?]
• Hyphenation: an?swer
• Rhymes: -??ns?(?), -æns?(?)

Etymology 1

From Middle English answere, andsware, from Old English andswaru (“answer”), from and- (“against”) +? -swaru (“affirmation”), (from Proto-Indo-European *h?ent- (“front, forehead”) and Old English swerian (“to swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer-), suggesting an original meaning of "a sworn statement rebutting a charge". The cognates suggest the existence of Proto-Germanic *andaswar? (“a reply to a question”). Cognate with Old Frisian ondser (“answer”), Old Saxon andsw?r (“answer”), Danish and Swedish ansvar (“liability, responsibility, answer”), Icelandic andsvar (“answer, response”). Compare also Old English andwyrde (“answer”) (cognate to Dutch antwoord, German Antwort), Old English andcwiss (“reply”), German Schwur (“oath, vow”).

Noun

answer (plural answers)

1. A response or reply; something said or done in reaction to a statement or question.

2. A solution to a problem.

3. (law) A document filed in response to a complaint, responding to each point raised in the complaint and raising counterpoints.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• ask

Etymology 2

From Middle English answeren, andswaren, answerien, from Old English andswarian, answarien (“to answer, to respond, to deny an allegation under oath”), from Proto-Germanic *andaswar?n?, *andaswarjan? (“to answer, to give a response, to rebut”), from *anda- (“against”) +? *swarjan?, *swar?n? (“to swear an oath, to answer, to respond”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to swear”) and *h?ent- (“face, forehead”), equivalent to and- (“against, back”) +? swear. Cognate with Old Frisian ondswera (“to answer”), Danish ansvare (“to answer, account for”), Swedish ansvara (“to answer, account for”), Icelandic andsvara (“to answer, reply”).

Verb

answer (third-person singular simple present answers, present participle answering, simple past and past participle answered)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To make a reply or response to.

2. (transitive) To speak in defence against; to reply to in defence.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To respond to a call by someone at a door or telephone, or other similar piece of equipment.

4. (transitive, intransitive) To suit a need or purpose satisfactorily.
   • 1871, Alexander J. Ellis, On Early English Pronunciation, London: Trübner & Co., Part III, Chapter 7, section 1, p. 656, footnote 1,^[1]

     Of course for publication in a newspaper, my palaeotype would not answer, but my glossotype would enable the author to give his Pennsylvania German in an English form and much more intelligibly.

5. To be accountable or responsible; to make amends.

   Synonym: answer for
6. (law) To file a document in response to a complaint.
7. To correspond to; to be in harmony with; to be in agreement with.
   • 1775, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Duenna, Dublin: G. Burnet et al., 1794, Act II, Scene 2, p. 25,^[2]

     Egad, I wish she had answer’d her picture as well.

   • 1793, Bryan Edwards, The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies, Dublin: Luke White, Volume II, Book V, Chapter 2, p. 231,^[3]

     The use of dunder in the making of rum, answers the purpose of yeast in the fermentation of flour.

8. To be opposite, or to act in opposition.
   • 1786, William Gilpin, Observations, relative chiefly to picturesque beauty, made in the year 1772: on several parts of England; particularly the mountains, and lakes of Cumberland, and Westmoreland, London: R. Blamire, Volume II, Section 19, p. 85,^[4]

     The windows answering each other, we could just discern the glowing horizon through them […]

9. To be or act in conformity, or by way of accommodation, correspondence, relation, or proportion; to conform; to correspond; to suit; usually with to.
10. To respond to satisfactorily; to meet successfully by way of explanation, argument, or justification; to refute.
11. To be or act in compliance with, in fulfillment or satisfaction of, as an order, obligation, or demand.
12. (obsolete) To render account to or for.
13. (obsolete) To atone for; to be punished for.
14. (obsolete) To be or act as an equivalent to, or as adequate or sufficient for; to serve for; to repay.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• question

Anagrams

• Warnes, awners, resawn

Middle English

Noun

answer

1. Alternative form of answere