What does reckonable mean?
Reckonable means capable of being reckoned, estimated, or assessed. It is especially useful when speaking about an amount, cost, effect, or consequence whose precise extent is not yet fully known but can at least be calculated or judged in principle. The word often appears in the expression “not reckonable,” as when a disaster's total damage is said to be too uncertain or extensive to estimate. Although it can sound formal and somewhat old-fashioned, it distinguishes clearly between what is impossible to assess and what is merely difficult or incomplete to measure. A related distinction is that a reckonable amount is not necessarily an exact amount: the word indicates that calculation or assessment is possible, not that the result is already certain.
adjectiveCapable of being reckoned or estimated; countable or assessable.
- Capable of being reckoned, estimated, or assessed.
"The damage was not yet reckonable because the full extent of the flood had not been assessed."
"The true cost of the restoration will not be reckonable until the structural survey is complete."
"Even in a small village, the number of families affected was plainly reckonable."
Reckonable is the cautious word for something whose size or significance can be assessed—without pretending that every detail is already known.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does reckonable come from?
The word is formed from reckon plus the suffix -able, meaning “able to be” something. Reckon itself comes from Old English recnan, meaning to count, calculate, or reckon, and ultimately belongs to a Germanic root associated with counting and ordering. The derived form reckonable therefore preserves the older sense of reckoning as a deliberate act of counting or calculation.
How reckonable is actually used
This is a relatively uncommon and formal or literary word. It is most often used in predicative constructions such as “not reckonable” and can suggest that an assessment is possible even if its exact result remains uncertain.
Easily confused with reckonable
Reckonable is an adjective describing something that can be estimated, whereas reckon is a verb meaning to calculate, consider, or estimate.
Reckoning is a noun for an estimate, calculation, or assessment, while reckonable is an adjective describing what can be assessed.