noun.
The use of the faculty of reason; discriminative thought or discussion in regard to a subject; rational consideration.
noun.
A presentation of reasons or arguments; an argumentative statement or expression; a formal discussion.
noun.
Discussion; conversation; discourse.
noun.
Synonyms Reasoning, Argumentation. Reasoning is much broader than argumentation. The latter is confined to one side of the question, or, in another sense, supposes a proposition, supported by arguments on the affirmative side and attacked by arguments on the negative. Reasoning may be upon one side of a proposition, and is then the same as argumentation; but it may also be the method by which one reaches a belief, and thus a way of putting together the results of investigation: as, the reasoning in Euclid, or in Butler's Analogy; the reasoning by which a thief justifies himself in stealing.