reckoning

[rek-uh-ning]

noun

1. count; computation; calculation.

2. the settlement of accounts, as between two companies.

3. a statement of an amount due; bill.

4. an accounting, as for things received or done.

   Synonyms: retribution, judgment

5. an appraisal or judgment.

6. Navigation.,  dead reckoning.

7. day of reckoning.

reckoning

/ ˈrɛkənɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of counting or calculating

2. settlement of an account or bill

3. a bill or account

4. retribution for one's actions (esp in the phrase day of reckoning )

5. nautical short for dead reckoning

Other Word Forms

• prereckoning noun
• self-reckoning adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of reckoning¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; reckon + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, families of protesters who were killed are reckoning with their deaths.

From BBC

Instead, this conservative, religious city was thrust into a national reckoning of political violence, forced into mourning after a gunman killed Charlie Kirk, an influential right-wing activist, as he was speaking at the local university.

From Los Angeles Times

“The tale of ‘Everyman’ was one in which a universal protagonist met with all of the challenges of life and a reckoning with himself and with God,” Hull says.

From Los Angeles Times

“I am not your victim. I’m your reckoning. … I am the girl who took you down,” the woman said in court, according to the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare — not the untouchable bard of legend but a husband and father reckoning with grief.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• calculation 
• estimation