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Rational vs Moral - What's the difference?

rational | moral |

As adjectives the difference between rational and moral

is that rational is capable of reasoning while moral is of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially for teaching right behaviour.

As nouns the difference between rational and moral

is that rational is (mathematics) a rational number: a number that can be expressed as the quotient of two integers while moral is (of a narrative) the ethical significance or practical lesson.

rational

English

Alternative forms

* rationall (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) rationel, rational, from (etyl)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Capable of reasoning.
  • *
  • Logically sound; not contradictory or otherwise absurd.
  • (label) Healthy or balanced intellectually; exhibiting reasonableness.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-21, volume=411, issue=8892, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Magician’s brain , passage=The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason. The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy.}}
  • Of a number, capable of being expressed as the ratio of two integers.
  • ¾ is a rational number, but ?2 is an irrational number.
  • Of an algebraic expression, capable of being expressed as the ratio of two polynomials.
  • (label) Expressing the type, structure, relations, and reactions of a compound; graphic; said of formulae.
  • Antonyms
    * (reasonable) absurd, irrational, nonsensical * (capable of reasoning) arational, irrational, non-rational * (number theory) irrational

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) rational, from , for which see the first etymology.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (mathematics) A rational number: a number that can be expressed as the quotient of two integers.
  • The quotient of two rationals''' is again a '''rational .
  • A rational being.
  • (Young)

    References

    * *

    Anagrams

    *

    moral

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially for teaching right behaviour.
  • * Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • She had wandered without rule or guidance in a moral wilderness.
  • Conforming to a standard of right behaviour; sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment.
  • * Sir M. Hale
  • the wiser and more moral part of mankind
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.}}
  • Capable of right and wrong action.
  • Probable but not proved.
  • Positively affecting the mind, confidence, or will.
  • Synonyms

    * (conforming to a standard of right behaviour) ethical, incorruptible, noble, righteous, virtuous * (probable but not proved) virtual

    Antonyms

    * immoral, amoral, non-moral, unmoral

    Derived terms

    * moral compass * moral high ground * moral minimum

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (of a narrative) The ethical significance or practical lesson.
  • The moral of the (The Boy Who Cried Wolf) is that if you repeatedly lie, people won't believe you when you tell the truth.
  • * Macaulay
  • We protest against the principle that the world of pure comedy is one into which no moral enters.
  • Moral practices or teachings: modes of conduct.
  • (obsolete) A morality play.
  • Synonyms

    * (moral practices or teachings) ethics, mores

    Hyponyms

    * golden rule

    Anagrams

    * ----