reckoning
nounUK /ˈɹɛkənɪŋ/
Etymology Gerund of the verb reckon, from reckon + -ing. Compare Dutch rekening, German Rechnung.
7 senses
1
The action of calculating or estimating something.
- By that reckoning, it would take six weeks to go five miles.
- So saying, he called for a reckoning for the wine, and throwing down the price of the additional bottle which he had himself introduced, rose as if to take leave of us.1817, Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy:
1 more example
- When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped ; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, and her pretty little Alsatian maid beside her, laying a log across the andirons.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
2
An opinion or judgement.
- day of reckoning
3
A summing up or appraisal.
- My mother's father was a small-town school teacher, an occupation with somewhat more status (teachers are petit bourgeois by the standard reckoning) which nevertheless provided little more income than on my father's side.1984 February 4, David Morris, “Different Origins: Joto Güero del West Side”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 28, page 15:
- The research presented in this paper is the most comprehensive and up-to-date reckoning of an expanding set of portmanteau terms based on the word English.2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 18:
4
The settlement of accounts, as between parties.
5
The working out of consequences or retribution for one's actions.
6
Archaic The bill (UK) or check (US), especially at an inn or tavern.
7
Archaic Rank or status.
- Synonyms
- calculation, computation
- Derived terms
- day of reckoning, dead reckoning, Dutch reckoning, final reckoning, off-reckoning