reading

Etymology 1

From Middle English reding, redyng, redand, from Old English rǣdende, present participle of rǣdan (“to read”), equivalent to read + -ing.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of read

Etymology 2

From Middle English reding, redynge, redunge, from Old English rǣding (“reading”), equivalent to read + -ing.

noun

1. the process of interpreting written language
   The student is behind in his reading by several chapters.
2. the process of interpreting a symbol, a sign or a measuring device
3. a value indicated by a measuring device
   He glanced across and took note of the speedometer reading.
   He noted that fine dust readings have been higher in Seoul than in Beijing recently. Audio (US) (file) 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
4. an event at which written material is read aloud.
   I attended a poetry reading.
5. an interpretation
   That's my reading of the current situation.
6. a spelling that intends to indicate the approximate pronunciation of a word from another language; a romanization, transcription, and/or transliteration
   Recent reports from Taiwan (Formosa), although fragmentary, begin to give a picture of economic conditions following the conclusion of the war. Now officially referred to as Taiwan Province, the island's former Japanese administration is being replaced by Chinese officials with little change, at least as yet, in the administrative pattern. Although there is no indication that ideographs will be changed, Chinese readings rather than Japanese will be followed for place names. Taihoku, for example, will be read in our alphabet as Taipei. This city presumably will continue to be the capital of Taiwan. February 16, 1946, “China”, in Foreign Commerce Weekly, volume XXII, number 7, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, United States Department of Commerce, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 26, column 2
7. something to read; reading material
   2014, Jürgen Moltmann, edited by Margaret Kohl, Jürgen Moltmann: Collected Readings, Fortress Press.:
8. the extent of what one has read
   He's a man of good reading.
9. (legislature) one of several stages a bill passes through before becoming law
10. a piece of literature or passage of scripture read aloud to an audience
    After the homily there will be two readings from the Bible.
11. (education, uncountable) the content of a reading list
12. (go, uncountable) the act or process of imagining sequences of potential moves and responses without actually placing stones