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

It has had no reckoning with its great institutional failures, including 10% inflation and repeated bailouts.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It was caused partly by record rain, but was also a reckoning for years of rampant overdevelopment and a waste management system under enormous strain.

Read more on Barron's

Local officials first raised the prospect during the national reckoning on racial injustice that followed the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, but the plan has progressed in sluggish fits and starts since then.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The prospects for any significant reckoning over agents’ conduct, even against citizens, are dim.

Read more on Salon

I also had no inkling that just before I turned 72, I would manage to quit for good, my reckoning long overdue.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• calculation 
• estimation