Rationale

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rationale \Ra`tion*a"le\ (r[a^]sh`[u^]*n[a^]l" or
     r[a^]sh`[u^]n*[=a]"l[-e]), n. [L. rationalis, neut.
     rationale. See {Rational}, a.]
     An explanation or exposition of the principles of some
     opinion, action, hypothesis, phenomenon, or the like; also,
     the principles themselves.


     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  rationale
       n : (law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially
           an explanation of the working of some device in terms of
           laws of nature); "the rationale for capital punishment";
           "the principles of internal-combustion engines" [syn: {principle}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  47 Moby Thesaurus words for "rationale":
     account, allegorization, clarification, cracking, decipherment,
     decoding, demonstration, demythologization, editing, elucidation,
     emendation, enlightenment, euhemerism, excuse, exegesis,
     exemplification, explanation, explication, exposition, expounding,
     grounds, illumination, illustration, justification, light, logic,
     philosophy, pretense, pretext, principle, rational ground,
     rationalization, reason, reason for, reason why, reasoning,
     simplification, solution, stated cause, the big idea, the idea,
     the whatfor, the wherefore, the why, theory, underlying reason,
     unlocking