reckon

Formsreckons, reckoning, reckoned

Pluralreckons

1. 1
   supposeverbcolloquialtransitive

   To suppose or conclude that something is the case, especially after weighing the likely possibilities.

   We reckon the project can be finished by spring if the funding holds.

   Most farmers around here reckon the harvest will be poor this year.

   UsageOften I reckon plus a clause, with or without that. Like I think, it softens what you say.

   Similarthink, suppose, believe, guess, figure

   Note

   This sense has led two lives. Today "I reckon he won't try that again" sounds conversational, and the use counts as colloquial. Yet the King James Bible of 1611 uses the same clause-taking construction in its most solemn prose: "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared…". Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikisource.org
   • The quotation accurately reproduces part of Romans 8:18 and demonstrates reckon followed by a that-clause. en.wikisource.org
2. 2
   take into accountverbintransitive

   To take someone or something into account and deal with them; or, with "without," to fail to consider them and so misjudge a situation.

   City planners must reckon with rising sea levels in the coming decades.

   He set off confidently but reckoned without the locked gate at the trailhead.

   UsageUsed with with or without: reckon with a rival, reckon without the storm. Set phrase: a force to be reckoned with.

   Similarcontend, cope

   Note

   Everything turns on the preposition. To reckon with a rival or a risk is to take it seriously and deal with it. To reckon without something is to leave it out and be caught out by it, as in the old phrase reckon without one's host. Robert W. Service, in The Spell of the Yukon (1907), drops the preposition entirely: hardships "that nobody reckons" are ones nobody counts on. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Reckon without one's host is an old expression for miscalculating or failing to anticipate something. talus.artsci.wustl.edu
   • The Spell of the Yukon is by Robert W. Service. gutenberg.org
   • The poem's first publication year was 1907, in Songs of a Sourdough. jps.library.utoronto.ca
   • The poem contains the quoted words, with reckon taking hardships directly without a preposition. en.wikisource.org
3. 3
   settle accountsverbintransitive

   To settle accounts and balance debt against credit; figuratively, to come to a final accounting for one's actions.

   UsageThe figurative use usually takes with: reckon with the past, reckon with the harm you caused.

   Similarsettle, answer

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To count, enumerate, or calculate a number or total; to work something out by counting or calculation.

   The shepherd would reckon his flock each evening before dark.

   Sailors once reckoned their position from the stars.

   Similarcount, calculate, compute, tally, figure

   Note

   Money and numbers come first in this word's history. Old English recenian meant "to pay" and "to arrange" as well as "to reckon", and a related form meant "to recount". The King James Bible of 1611 has a priest reckon money "according to the years that remain", working out a sum by the time left until the jubilee. The object is whatever gets totted up: money, people, a flock. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Monetary and numerical meanings occur in the word's Old English ancestry; recenian meant to pay, arrange and reckon. en.wiktionary.org
   • A related Old English form meant to recount. en.wiktionary.org
   • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
   • Leviticus 27:18 instructs a priest to reckon money according to the remaining years. en.wikisource.org
   • The priest calculates a monetary valuation according to the years remaining until the jubilee. Calculation and payment are distinct; verse 23 separately describes giving the assessed amount. en.wikisource.org
5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To count someone or something as part of a number, rank, or series, and to regard or esteem them in a particular way.

   Historians reckon the era among the most turbulent in the nation's past.

   He was reckoned one of the finest scholars of his generation.

   UsageOften passive, with among or a plain noun and no as: was reckoned among the best, was reckoned the finest rider.

   Similarcount, rank, consider, deem, rate

   Note

   Here counting becomes judging: to reckon someone among a group is to place them there in your estimation. Milton turns it on rank itself in Samson Agonistes (1671), refusing to reckon anyone high merely for long descent. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • John Milton wrote Samson Agonistes, whose first-edition title page is dated 1671. en.wikisource.org
   • The poem rejects high esteem based merely on ancestry; the passage is spoken by the Chorus. en.wikisource.org
6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To attribute or assign a particular quality or value to someone or something.

   Under the club's rules, a draw is reckoned as half a win when players are ranked.

   Locals still reckon the old mill the oldest building in the county, though no one has ever proved it.

   UsageFollowed by as or directly by a noun: reckoned as half a win, reckon it the oldest building.

   Similarattribute, ascribe, credit

   Note

   In the King James Bible of 1611, faith is reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. In The Scarlet Letter (1850), Hawthorne writes of eccentricities "being reckoned to her for a crime." The bookkeeping image sits close by: a quality is entered on someone's account and counted at a certain value. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
   • The King James Bible says that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness, in Romans 4:9. en.wikisource.org
   • Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter, first published in 1850. mdcourts.gov
   • The quoted wording occurs in the novel's narration, referring to Pearl's eccentricities. gutenberg.org
7. 7
   opinionnouncolloquialcountable

   A personal impression or opinion about something.

   We asked the old fisherman for his reckon on tomorrow's weather.

   Give me your honest reckon: is the new coach any good?

   UsageOn can introduce the topic: my reckon on something.

   Similaropinion, view, take, estimate, guess

   Note

   Turned into a noun, the "suppose" verb keeps its casual air. Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood (2023) offers "Here's my reckon on mass incarceration." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Eleanor Catton wrote Birnam Wood, first published in 2023. en.wikipedia.org
   • Birnam Wood contains the quotation "Here's my reckon on mass incarceration." en.wiktionary.org

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