Word of the Day: Rationalize
rationalize
ra-tion-al-ize / răsh-ə-nə-līz
verb
1. to explain away, to make excuses, to justify one’s own or another’s attitude with logical or plausible reasons even if these are not true or appropriate
Never rationalize anything that feels wrong.
Louise Erdrich, 1954 –
2. to explain or think in a logical or sensible way
Happiness is a mystery like religion, and it should never be rationalized.
G. K. Chesterton, 1874 – 1936
3. to improve efficiency by reducing costs or by adopting modern techniques
All companies have the potential to rationalize and improve internal and external work processes.
“Rationalization and improvement”, Knowit, www.knowit.eu/services/experience/digital-strategy-and-analysis/strategy-and-digitalization/rationalization-and-improvement/
4. in math, to eliminate radicals from an expression without changing its value
To rationalize the denominator means to eliminate any radical expressions in the denominator such as square roots and cube roots.
Mike Estela, “Rationalizing the Denominator”, ChillMath, www.chilimath.com/lessons/intermediate-algebra/rationalizing-the-denominator/
