reckon English · revision 39743

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c1175, Ormulum|origins=ang gerecenian}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɹɛkən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|rekenen]] (also [[m|enm|recenen]], [[m|enm|rikenen]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024) [[inh|ang|gerecenian|t=to recount, relate, explain; to arrange in order]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010) a West Germanic verb.^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010)^(Hoad 1986) Its cognates are [[ofs|rekenia|t=to reckon]], [[dum|rekenen]], [[gml|rekenen|t=to count]], [[goh|rehhanōn]], whence [[de|rechnen|t=to count, calculate]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) and [[got|𐍂𐌰𐌷𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=rahnjan|t=to count, reckon]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Weekley 1921) Hoad and Klein relate the verb to [[m|ang|recen|t=ready, quick, straightforward]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) and Etymonline, Klein and the American Heritage Dictionary trace the family to the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*h₃reǵ-|t=to move in a straight line]], to move in a straight line, the source of [[m|la|regō|t=to rule]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Old English the verb meant to recount, relate or tell, and to count out money in payment.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) In Middle English it meant to list or enumerate things one by one, about 1175 in the ''Ormulum'',^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) and to count or compute, about 1225 in the ''Ancrene Riwle''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, the early senses, giving an account of items received and mentioning things in order, led to the idea of calculation, which in turn led to that of holding an opinion.^(ODE 2010) Hoad dates "estimate, consider" to the 14th century, and "make a calculation, settle accounts with" and "calculate to" to the 16th;^(Hoad 1986) "to depend on" (''reckon on'') follows in the 17th century.^(Hoad 1986) The parenthetical ''I reckon'', I suppose, dates from about 1600 and was once used by literary writers such as Richardson and Swift, but came to be associated with the American South and was then looked down on as provincial.^(Etymonline) The American Heritage Dictionary still labels the senses "to think" and "to intend" chiefly Southern and South Midland.^(AHD 2024) In British dialect from Scotland to Devon ''reckon'' meant both to regard or esteem and to think or suppose, and the English Dialect Dictionary records it in many local forms such as ''rackon'' and ''ricken''.^(Wright 1898) In slang, especially British, ''reckon'' has meant to rate highly or approve of, usually in the negative, since the mid-19th century.^(GDoS) Johnson (1755) gave its first sense as to number or count.^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – to recount, relate; to pay out money.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ * c1175 – to enumerate, list.^(OED 2026)

+ * ?c1225 – to count, calculate.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1340 – to make a calculation.^(OED 2026)

+ * 14th century – to estimate, consider.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * c1600 – parenthetical ''I reckon'', I suppose.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1861 – (slang) to rate highly, approve of.^(GDoS)

+ * 1902 – noun, an act of thinking (''to have another reckon coming'').^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[count]] or [[calculate]]; to work out by calculation: ''The surveyors reckoned the cost at two million.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To regard or [[consider]] as being: ''He was reckoned one of the best players of his generation.''^(Collins 2023)^(AHD 2024)

+ # (informal) To think or [[suppose]]: ''I reckon the bus has already gone.''^(Collins 2023)^(AHD 2024)

+ # To include as part of a group or class.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''reckon on'': to rely on or expect.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''reckon with'' or ''without'': to take, or fail to take, into account.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # (archaic) ''reckon with'': to settle accounts with.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # (chiefly Southern US) To expect or intend to do something.^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[reckonable]]

+ * [[misreckon]]

+ * [[unreckoned]]

+ * [[reckoner]]

+ * [[reckoning]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[reck]]

+ * [[reckless]]

+ * [[regal]]

+ * [[rule]]

+ * [[right]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Etymonline notes that ''I reckon'' in the sense "I suppose" was once good literary English but came to be thought of as a provincial Americanism;^(Etymonline) Weekley likewise observed that the American use was formerly literary English.^(Weekley 1921) The English Dialect Dictionary shows that the same use was widespread in British dialects, from Scotland to Devon.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}