have reason

verb

To be right.

OriginMiddle French avoir raison →
First used 15th–18th c.
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Meanings

verbhave reason (third-person singular simple present has reason, present participle having reason, simple past and past participle had reason)

present singular third person has reason · participle present having reason · participle past had reason · past had reason

  1. obsoleteTo be right.First known use 15th–18th c.

    They would have no man use it as an interjection or exclamation, not to be alleaged as a witnesse or comparison, wherein I find they have reason.

    1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 56, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
  2. To have grounds, justification etc. (to do something, or for something).

    The finance minister had reason to be exasperated. Britain's economic future hinges on Europe, and this is no time for animus.

    2008 December 12, Martin Kettle, The Guardian

Origin

  1. Middle Frenchavoir raison
  2. Englishhave reason

From have + reason, partly after Middle French avoir raison.

More words from Middle French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

have reason. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20reason

MLA

“have reason.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20reason. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have reason,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20reason.

Source: have reason on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.