-k(ə)niŋ, -nēŋ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English rekening, from gerund of rekenen to reckon
1.
a. : the act or an instance of computing or calculating
the reckonings of local, solar, and sidereal time — Times Literary Supplement
b. : a method of calculating
a need felt for a more precise time reckoning — A.L.Kroeber
c. : a calculation or statement of money owed : account , bill
an old beggar who could not pay his reckoning — Virginia Woolf
d. : the result of a process of calculating : computation
more than 10 percent off in his reckoning
experiments verified the correctness of his reckoning
e.
(1) : the calculation of a ship's position from astronomical observations or from dead reckoning ; also : dead reckoning as opposed to observation
(2) : the position of a ship determined by reckoning
2. : the act or an instance of settling accounts
would demonstrate their loyalty by postponing a reckoning of their grievances — Oscar Handlin
3. : the act of accounting for one's conduct or the fact of being called to account
if the cause be not good, the king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make — Shakespeare
a time of reckoning
a bitter reckoning
— see day of reckoning
4. : the act or an instance of judging : a summing up : appraisal
when the final reckoning of this composer's complete works is made — Arthur Berger
its people have lived under the system for more than a generation … a reckoning can now be taken — Nathaniel Peffer