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Coming before others, or before the usual time; early. [Obs. or Poetic] Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies. Milton.

Prior; earlier; former. [Obs.] Now no man dwelleth at the rather town. Sir J. Mandeville.

A rareripe. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Such who delight in rathripe fruits. Fuller.

Orig., in Germany, the cellar or basement of the city hall, usually rented for use as a restaurant where beer is sold; hence, a beer saloon of the German type below the street level, where, usually, drinks are served only at tables and simple food may also be had; -- sometimes loosely used, in English, of what are esse…

The act of ratifying; the state of being ratified; confirmation; sanction; as, the ratification of a treaty.

One who, or that which, ratifies; a confirmer. Shak.

settle; especially, to give sanction to, as something done by an agent or servant; as, to ratify an agreement, treaty, or contract; to ratify a nomination. It is impossible for the divine power to set a seal to a lie by ratifying an imposture with such a miracle. South.

Confirmation or approbation, as of an act or contract. [Obs.] Jer. Tailor.

nd. It is expressed by the quotient of the division of the first by the second; thus, the ratio of 3 to 6 is expressed by a to b by a/b; or (less commonly) the second is made the dividend; as, a:b = b/a.

To reason, esp. deductively; to offer reason or argument.

The process of reasoning, or deducing conclusions from premises; deductive reasoning.

Characterized by, or addicted to, ratiocination; consisting in the comparison of proportions or facts, and the deduction of inferences from the comparison; argumentative; as, a ratiocinative process. The ratiocinative meditativeness of his character. Coleridge.

Ratiocinative. [R.]

To supply with rations, as a regiment.

Relating to reason; not physical; mental. Moral philosophy was his chiefest end; for the rational, the natural, and mathematics . . . were but simple pastimes in comparison of the other. Sir T. North.

An explanation or exposition of the principles of some opinion, action, hypothesis, phenomenon, or like; also, the principles themselves.

The system that makes rational power the ultimate test of truth; -- opposed to sensualism, or sensationalism, and empiricism. Fleming.

One who accepts rationalism as a theory or system; also, disparagingly, a false reasoner. See Citation under Reasonist.

Belonging to, or in accordance with, the principles of rationalism. -- Ra`tion*al*is"tic*al*ly, adv.

The quality or state of being rational; agreement with reason; possession of reason; due exercise of reason; reasonableness. When God has made rationality the common portion of mankind, how came it to be thy inclosure Gov. of Tongue. Well-directed intentions, whose rationalities will never bear a rigid examination. Sir…