RATIONALE - Definition

Pronunciation:		`rashu'nal
WordNet Dictionary

	Definition:	[n] 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"

	Websites:

	Synonyms:	principle

	See Also:	dialectics, explanation

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

	Definition:	\Ra`tion*a"le\, n. [L. rationalis, neut. rationale. See {Rational}, a.] An explanation or exposition of the principles of some opinion, action, hypothesis, phenomenon, or like; also, the principles themselves.