The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
REASON
Definition of REASON
noun
A cause:
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English resoun, reson, from Anglo-Norman raisun (Old French raison), from Latin ratiō, from ratus, past participle of reor (“reckon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂reh₁- (“to think”), reanalysed root of *h₂er- (“to put together”). Displaced native Middle English reden (found in compounds), from Old English rǣden (“condition, stipulation, calculation, direction”), from the same Proto-Indo-European source (compare West Frisian reden (“reason”), Dutch reden (“reason”)). Doublet of ration and ratio.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
9%
of traced words share this origin (2,585)
How it is built
Same root, REASON · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch, Old English, Old French.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
REASON in OUTLIER
It has fitted 2 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 85, 13 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 140, 7 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 52, 11 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
REASON starts with R and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AENORS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start REASON
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found REASON?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 85 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER