different between reason vs inspiration

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French inspiration, from Late Latin ?nsp?r?ti?nem (nominative: ?nsp?r?ti?), from Latin ?nsp?r?tus (past participle of insp?r?).Morphologically inspire +? -ation

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nsp???e???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

inspiration (countable and uncountable, plural inspirations)

1. (physiology, uncountable) The drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm, as part of the act of respiration.
2. (countable) A breath, a single inhalation.
   • 1826, John Bostock, An Elementary System of Physiology, p. 220:

     Laughing is produced by an inspiration succeeded by a succession of short imperfect expirations.
3. A supernatural divine influence on the prophets, apostles, or sacred writers, by which they were qualified to communicate moral or religious truth with authority; a supernatural influence which qualifies people to receive and communicate divine truth; also, the truth communicated.
   • 1688, Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, The History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches Vol.2 (1829 translation), p. 355:

     The question, therefore, at issue is, not whether those external means be sufficient without grace and divine inspiration, for none pretends that": but, in order to hinder men from feigning or imagining an inspiration, whether it has not been God's economy, and his usual conduct to make his inspiration walk hand in hand with certain means of fact, which men can neither feign in the air without being convicted of falsehood, nor imagine without illusion.

   • 1971, Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150—750, Thames & Hudson LTD (2013 reprint), ?ISBN, page 54.

     The more strongly people felt about their ideas, the more potent the demons seemed to them: Christians believed that traditional paganism, far from being the work of men, was an 'opium of the masses', pumped into the human race by the non-human demons; and one scholar even ascribed bad reviews of his book to demonic inspiration!

4. The act of an elevating or stimulating influence upon the intellect, emotions or creativity.

   Usage notes: In this sense, it may be followed by the adposition to in relation to the person being influenced, and for or to in relation to the idea or activity:

   • 1865, George Duffield, The Nation's Wail, p. 6:

     We caught the inspiration of his joy; and imagination painted a glorious future near at hand for our land, quickly to develop itself under the guidance of his fostering wisdom, and fraternal counsels and care.

   • 1998, David Allen Brown, Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius, p. 25:

     All this suggests that Andrea may, like the authors of the devotional panel, the fresco, and the print – and like Leonardo, as we shall see – have found his inspiration in Pollaiuolo.

   • 2002, Sven Rasegård, Man and Science: A Web of Systems and Social Conventions, p. 2:

     And now it is time for problem solving which, if successful, will create new ideas serving as an inspiration source for future research objects of the researcher in question as well as other researchers within the same field.

   • 2013, Phil McNulty, "Liverpool 1-0 Man Utd", BBC Sport, 1 September 2013:

     As for United, this was a performance lacking in inspiration, purpose and threat and once again underlined the urgency for transfer business to be done in the closing hours of the transfer window.

5. A person, object, or situation which quickens or stimulates an influence upon the intellect, emotions or creativity.
   • 2008 April 5, George W. Bush, Presidential Radio Address:

     The people of Ukraine and Georgia are an inspiration to the world, and I was pleased that this week NATO declared that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO.

6. A new idea, especially one which arises suddenly and is clever or creative.
   • 1916, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, Mrs. Balfame, ch. 15:

     Mrs. Balfame had an inspiration. "My God!" she exclaimed, springing to her feet, "the murderer . . . was hidden in the cellar or attic all night, all the next day! He may be here yet!"

   • 2007 July 1, Sylviane Gold, "Scenery Chewer Plays It Straight, Methodically," New York Times (retrieved 3 Sept. 2013):

     [H]e accompanied her to a rehearsal of a skit satirizing “Casablanca,” and the director had an inspiration: Wouldn’t it be a laugh to cast a 10-year-old as Rick?

Synonyms

• (physiology): inhalation
• (stimulation of creativity or intellect): spark, flash, eureka

Antonyms

• (physiology): expiration

Derived terms

Related terms

• inspire

Translations

See also

• Muse
• Pierian spring

References

• inspiration in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Etymology

From Old French inspiration, borrowed from Late Latin ?nsp?r?ti?nem (nominative: ?nsp?r?ti?), from Latin ?nsp?r?tus (past participle of insp?r?).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??s.pi.?a.sj??/

Noun

inspiration f (plural inspirations)

1. inspiration (instance of breathing in)
2. inspiration (divine intervention)
3. inspiration (something which brings about creativity or perseverance)

See also

• inspirer

Further reading

• “inspiration” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin inspirationem (nominative: inspiratio), from Latin inspiratus (past participle of insp?r?).

Noun

inspiration f (oblique plural inspirations, nominative singular inspiration, nominative plural inspirations)

1. inspiration (act of breathing in)
2. inspiration (something which inspires)

Descendants

• ? English: inspiration
• French: inspiration

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (inspiracion)