What is the difference between purpose and reason?

purpose | reason |

Reason is a synonym of purpose.

In obsolete terms the difference between purpose and reason

is that purpose is instance; example while reason is something reasonable, in accordance with thought; justice.

In transitive terms the difference between purpose and reason

is that purpose is (passive) Designed for some purpose while reason is to persuade by reasoning or argument.

purpose

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)

An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington

, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}

A result that is desired; an intention.

The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.

* 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980]", BBC Sport , 1 September 2013:

United began with more purpose in the early phase of the second half and Liverpool were grateful for Glen Johnson's crucial block from Young's goalbound shot.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Sarah Glaz

, title= Ode to Prime Numbers , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}

The subject of discourse; the point at issue.

(Spenser)

The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.

The purpose of turning off the lights overnight is to save energy.

(obsolete) Instance; example.

(rfquotek, L'Estrange)

Synonyms

* (target ): aim, goal, object, target * (intention ): aim, plan, intention * (determination ): determination, intention, resolution * (subject of discourse ): matter, subject, topic * (reason for doing something ): reason * See also

Derived terms

(terms derived from purpose) * all-purpose * common purpose * cross-purpose * fit for purpose * for all intents and purposes * game with a purpose * general-purpose * infinitive of purpose * multi-purpose * metapurpose * purpose-built * purposeful * purposeless * purpose-like * purpose loan * purposely * purpose statement * on purpose

Etymology 2

From (etyl)

Verb

(purpos)

Have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.

* Macaulay

I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living.

(passive ) Designed for some purpose.

(obsolete) To have a purpose or intention; to discourse.

(Spenser)

Derived terms

* purposed * purposer * purposive * on purpose

Synonyms

* (have set as one's purpose ): aim, intend, mean, plan, set out * (designed for some purpose ): intended

References

* * *

Statistics

reason

English

(wikipedia reason)

Noun

(en noun)

A cause:

# That which causes something: an efficient cause, a proximate cause.

#* 1996 , (w), : 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

# 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

# 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), ((Penguin Classics) edition, ISBN 0140184945), 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.

(label) Rational]] thinking (or the capacity for it; the cognitive [[faculty, faculties, collectively, of conception, judgment, deduction and intuition.

* 1970 , (Hannah Arendt), On Violence (ISBN 0156695006), 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

*{{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.}}

(label) Something reasonable, in accordance with thought; justice.

* (rfdate) (Edmund Spenser):

I was promised, on a time, To have reason for my rhyme.

Ratio; proportion.

(Barrow)

Synonyms

* (that which causes) cause * (motive for an action) rationale, motive * (thought offered in support) excuse

Derived terms

* age of reason * everything happens for a reason * for some reason * for no good reason * for XYZ reason * have reason * in reason * instrumental reason * reasonability * reasonable * reasonableness * reasonist * reasonless * rhyme or reason * stand to reason * unreason * with reason * within reason

Verb

(en verb)

To exercise the rational faculty; to deduce inferences from premises; to perform the process of deduction or of induction; to ratiocinate; to reach conclusions by a systematic comparison of facts.

Hence: To carry on a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to formulate and set forth propositions and the inferences from them; to argue.

To converse; to compare opinions.

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.

(rare) To support with reasons, as a request.

To persuade by reasoning or argument.

to reason''' one into a belief; to '''reason one out of his plan

To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons.

to reason down a passion

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

* reasoner * reason out

Statistics

External links

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