reckoning

American  

[rek-uh-ning] / ˈrɛk ə nɪŋ /

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.

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reckoning British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• prereckoning noun
• self-reckoning adjective

Etymology

Origin of reckoning

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

Example Sentences

To see why these verdicts are social media’s “Big Tobacco moment,” as Slate’s What Next: TBD put it, it’s important to understand how Silicon Valley evaded this kind of reckoning for so long.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

Baroness Anne Longfield, a former children's commissioner, will chair the inquiry into child sexual abuse by grooming gangs, which Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has promised will be a "moment of reckoning".

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

None of this is to say that a major reckoning won’t come at some point, or that AI hasn’t already absorbed some positions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

In 2020, the murder of George Floyd ignited a nationwide reckoning on race, which prompted communities and institutions across the nation, including California, to remove public monuments of former slaveholders or prominent Confederate figures.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026

Those who swelled their little unarmed strength into the reckoning one of leagues, clubs, societies, sisterhoods designed to hold or withhold, move or stay put, make a way, solicit, comfort and ease.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

Related Words

• calculation
• estimation