reckon or calculate (a figure or amount): _the hire charge is computed on a daily basis._
* [ no obj., with negative ] informal seem reasonable; make sense: _the idea of a woman alone in a pub did not compute._[from the phrase _does not compute_, once used as an error message in computing.]
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from French _**computer**_ or Latin _**computare**_, **_from com- ‘together’ + putare ‘to settle (an account)’_**.
## reckon |ˈrɛk(ə)n|
verb
1. [ with obj. ] establish by calculation: his debts were **reckoned at**_£300,000 | the Byzantine year was reckoned from 1 September._
* (**reckon someone/thing among**) include someone or something in (a class or group): _the society can reckon among its members males of the royal blood._
2. [ with clause ] informal be of the opinion: _he reckons that the army should pull out entirely | I reckon I can manage that._
* [ with obj. and complement ] consider or regard in a specified way: _the event was reckoned a failure._
* [ no obj. ] (**reckon on/to**) informal have a specified view or opinion of: _‘What do you reckon on this place?’ she asked._
* [ with obj. ] Brit. informal rate highly: _I don't reckon his chances._
3. [ no obj. ] (**reckon on**) rely on or be sure of: _they had reckoned on a day or two more of privacy._
* [ with infinitive ] informal expect to do a particular thing: _I reckon to get away by two-thirty._
## reckoning |ˈrɛk(ə)nɪŋ|
noun [ mass noun ]
1. the action or process of calculating or estimating something: _the sixth, or by another reckoning eleventh, Earl of Mar._
* a person's opinion or judgement: by ancient reckoning, bacteria are plants.
* [ count noun ] archaic a bill or account, or its settlement.
2. the avenging or punishing of past mistakes or misdeeds: _the fear of being brought to reckoning_ | [ count noun ] : _there will be a terrible reckoning._
3. (**the reckoning**) contention for a place in a team or among the winners of a contest: he has hit the sort of form which could thrust him into **the reckoning**.
ORIGIN Old English _(ge)recenian_‘recount, relate’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch _**rekenen**_ and German _**rechnen ‘to count (up)’**_. Early senses included ‘give an account of items received’ and ‘mention things in order’, which gave rise to the notion of ‘calculation’ and hence of ‘being of an opinion’.
