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reckon

[rek-uh n]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to count, compute, or calculate, as in number or amount.
  2. to esteem or consider; regard as: to be reckoned an authority in the field.
  3. Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. to think or suppose.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to count; make a computation or calculation.
  2. to settle accounts, as with a person (often followed by up).
  3. to count, depend, or rely, as in expectation (often followed by on).
  4. Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. to think or suppose.
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Verb Phrases
  1. reckon with,
    1. to include in consideration or planning; anticipate: He hadn't reckoned with so many obstacles.
    2. to deal with: I have to reckon with many problems every day.
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Origin of reckon

before 1000; Middle English rekenen, Old English gerecenian (attested once) to report, pay; cognate with German rechnen to compute
Related formsreck·on·a·ble, adjectiveout·reck·on, verb (used with object)pre·reck·on, verb (used with object)un·der·reck·on, verb (used with object)un·reck·on, verb (used with object)un·reck·on·a·ble, adjectiveun·reck·oned, adjective

Synonyms

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1. enumerate. 2. account, deem, estimate, judge.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for reckoned

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The extent of land is reckoned not by acreage, but by the heads of cattle it will keep.

    The Roof of France

    Matilda Betham-Edwards

  • Could she have reckoned upon weaning me from him by a display of his awkwardness?

  • To be sure it must have been hard for her to guess what sort of a husband he reckoned to make her.

  • It was now an hour after midnight and they reckoned that they had come about the right distance.

    The Rock of Chickamauga

    Joseph A. Altsheler

  • She stuck in his imagination for many an hour as a force to be reckoned with.

    The Black Bag

    Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for reckoned

reckon

verb
  1. to calculate or ascertain by calculating; compute
  2. (tr) to include; count as part of a set or classI reckon her with the angels
  3. (usually passive) to consider or regardhe is reckoned clever
  4. (when tr, takes a clause as object) to think or suppose; be of the opinionI reckon you don't know where to go next
  5. (intr foll by with) to settle accounts (with)
  6. (intr ; foll by with or without) to take into account or fail to take into accountthe bully reckoned without John's big brother
  7. (intr ; foll by on or upon) to rely or dependI reckon on your support in this crisis
  8. (tr) slang to regard as goodI don't reckon your chances of success
  9. (tr) informal to have a high opinion ofshe was sensitive to bad reviews, even from people she did not reckon
  10. to be reckoned with of considerable importance or influence
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Word Origin

Old English (ge) recenian recount; related to Old Frisian rekenia, Old High German rehhanón to count
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for reckoned

reckon

v.

c.1200, recenen, from Old English gerecenian "to explain, relate, recount," from West Germanic *(ga)rekenojanan (cf. Old Frisian rekenia, Middle Dutch and Dutch rekenen, Old High German rehhanon, German rechnen, Gothic rahnjan "to count, reckon"), from Proto-Germanic *rakinaz "ready, straightforward," from PIE *reg- "to move in a straight line," with derivatives meaning "direct in a straight line, rule" (see regal).

Intransitive sense "make a computation" is from c.1300. In I reckon, the sense is "hold an impression or opinion," and the expression, used parenthetically, dates from c.1600 and formerly was in literary use (Richardson, etc.), but came to be associated with U.S. Southern dialect and was regarded as provincial or vulgar. Related: Reckoned; reckoning.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with reckoned

reckon

In addition to the idiom beginning with reckon

  • reckon with

also see:

  • force to be reckoned with
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.