ENGLISH
REFERENCE

reckon

v.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈɹɛkən// UK //ɹˈɛkən// reck·on Dialect General-service Informal

v. to think or believe that something is true. You use this when you are making a guess or sharing your opinion about a situation.

v. to believe, suppose, or expect something to be the case. Often used to express a personal opinion or a calculation of probability; informal in British and Australian English.


SIMPLE

I reckon it will rain later today.

CONTEXTUAL

The mechanic said he reckons the repairs will cost about two hundred dollars.

COMPLEX

While some experts predict a market crash, others reckon that the current stability will hold for at least another fiscal quarter.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English rekenen, from Old English recenian (“to pay; arrange, dispose, reckon”) and ġerecenian (“to explain, recount, relate”); both from Proto-West Germanic rekanōn (“to count, explain”), from Proto-West Germanic rekan (“swift, ready, prompt”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to make straight or right”). Cognate with Scots rekkin (“to enumerate, mention, narrate, rehearse, count, calculate, compute”), Saterland Frisian reekenje (“to calculate, figure, reckon”), West Frisian rekkenje (“to account, tally, calculate, figure”), Dutch rekenen (“to count, calculate, reckon, charge”), German Low German reken (“to reckon”), German rechnen (“to count, reckon, calculate”), Danish regne (“to calculate”), Swedish räkna (“to count, calculate, reckon”), Icelandic reikna (“to calculate”), Latin rectus (“straight, right”). See also reck, reach.

Usage

The verb is transitive and often introduces a 'that' clause, though 'that' is frequently omitted in speech.

Pitfall

I am reckoning it is trueI reckon it is trueWhen used to mean 'think' or 'believe', this is a stative verb and is rarely used in the continuous (-ing) form.

Idioms1 entry

© 2026 English Reference