Reckling

//ˈɹɛklɪŋ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A weak child or animal. archaic

    "O ay, what say ye to Sir Valence, him / Whose kinsman left him watcher o'er his wife / And two fair babes, and went to distant lands; / Was one year gone, and on returning found / Not two but three: there lay the reckling, one / But one hour old! What said the happy sire?"

  2. 2
    A reckless person. archaic

Example

More examples

"O ay, what say ye to Sir Valence, him / Whose kinsman left him watcher o'er his wife / And two fair babes, and went to distant lands; / Was one year gone, and on returning found / Not two but three: there lay the reckling, one / But one hour old! What said the happy sire?"

Etymology

From reck + -ling.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.