different between reason vs pith

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 1

From Middle English pith, pithe, from Old English piþa, from Proto-Germanic *piþô (compare West Frisian piid (“pulp, kernel”), Dutch peen (“carrot”), Low German Peddik (“pulp, core”)), from earlier *piþ? (oblique *pittan). Doublet of pit. The verb meaning "to kill by cutting or piercing the spinal cord" is attested 1805.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??/
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

pith (usually uncountable, plural piths)

1. (botany) The soft, spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees.
2. The spongy interior substance of a feather or horn.
3. (anatomy) The spinal cord; the marrow.
4. (botany) The albedo of a citrus fruit.
5. (figuratively) The essential or vital part; force; energy; importance.
   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 144]:

     The clothesline surrendered the pith of its soul, and Kathleen's stockings, hung at the wide end, now suggested lust.

6. (figuratively) Power, strength, might.

Synonyms

• (essential or necessary part): core, essence, general tenor, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, nub, quintessence, soul, spirit, stuff, substance; See also Thesaurus:gist

Related terms

• pith helmet
• pithy
• pith and substance

Translations

Verb

pith (third-person singular simple present piths, present participle pithing, simple past and past participle pithed)

1. (transitive) To extract the pith from (a plant stem or tree).
2. (transitive) To kill (especially cattle or laboratory animals) by cutting or piercing the spinal cord.

Etymology 2

From pi (“number 3.14159...”) +? -th.

Alternative forms

• pi-th

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa??/

Adjective

pith (not comparable)

1. The ordinal form of the number pi.

Translations

Noun

pith (plural piths)

1. One divided by pi.

Translations

Anagrams

• phit

Middle English

Alternative forms

• pithe, piþ, piþþe, pyþe, peþe, pyth, pythe

Etymology

From Old English piþa, from Proto-Germanic *piþô.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pi?(?)/, /?pið(?)/, /?pe??(?)/

Noun

pith (uncountable)

1. The soft interior portion of something, especially:
   1. (botany) pith (soft substance in the center of a plant's stem)
   2. The pulp (soft innards) of a fruit.
2. (figuratively) The essential or vital part; importance.
3. (figuratively) Power, strength, might.

Descendants

• English: pith
• Scots: pith

References

• “pith(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.