readable 
3. Enabling to read ; capable of being read by. 
[Rare.] 
Those who have been labouring to Introduce into our 
railway carnages not only a good readable light, but a light 
generally acceptable to everyone. 
Elect. Rev. (Eng.X XXV. 601. 
readableness (re'da-bl-nes), n. The state or 
character of being readable. 
A book remarkable (or its succinctness, Its vividness, 
and its eminent readableness. Harper's May., LXXVI. 805. 
readably (re'da-bli), adv. In a readable man- 
ner; legibly. 
readdress (re-a-dres'), v. 1. [< re- + address.] 
To address or direct again. 
He ... re-addressed himself to her. 
Boyle, Works, VI. 290. 
readeptt(re-a-dept'), v. t. [< re- + adept] To 
regain; recover. 
The which Duchie if he might by their meanes readept 
and recover, he would never let passe out of hys memorie 
so great a beniflte. Hall, Edward IV., f. 25. (HalliweU.) 
readeption (re-a-dep'shon), . [< re- + adep- 
tion.] A regaining; recovery of something lost. 
In whose begynnyng of raedepcion \rea-], the erle of 
Worcester, whiche for his cruelnesse was called thebochier 
of Engla[n]de, was taken and put in streyght pryson. 
Fabyan, Chron., II. 659, an. 1570. 
Will any say that the readeption of Trevigi was matter 
of scruple? Boom. 
reader (re'der), n. [< ME. reder, redere, redare, 
redar, reader, counselor, adviser, < AS. rsedere, 
redere, a reader, scholar, church reader (lec- 
tor), reader of riddles, diviner (= D. rader, 
adviser, = OHG. ratari, rdtiri, MHG. rdtsere, 
counselor, adviser, guesser, diviner), < riedan, 
advise, read: see read 1 .] If. One who coun- 
sels ; a counselor ; an adviser. 
Loke . . . uram [from] kueade [evil] rederes, and neakse 
no red at foles. Ayenbite oflnwyt (E. E. T. 8.), p. 184. 
2. One who interprets ; one who acquires know- 
ledge from observation or impression ; an inter- 
preter: as, a reader of weather-signs or of proba- 
bilities. See mind-reader. 3. One who reads; 
a person who peruses, studies, or utters aloud 
that which is written or printed. 
And the reader droned from the pulpit, 
Like the murmur of many bees, 
The legend of good Saint Guthlac. 
Longfellow, King Wltlaf's Drinking-Horn. 
Readers are multiplying daily ; but they want guidance, 
help, plan. Nineteenth Century, XXIV. 499. 
Specifically (a) One who reads for examination or criti- 
cism ; an examiner of that which is offered or proposed 
for publication: as, an editorial or a publisher's reader. (6) 
One who is employed to read for correction for the press ; a 
proof-reader, (c) One who recites before an audience any- 
thing written : as, an elocutionary reader. Particularly 
(d) One whose office it is to read before an audience ; an 
officer appointed to read for a particular purpose ; a lec- 
tor ; a lecturer. (1) In the early church, the Greek Church, 
the Roman Catholic Church, and some other churches, a 
member of one of the minor clerical orders, appointed to 
read Scripture lections in the church. The order of reader 
existed as early as the second century. At an early date 
it was not unusual to admit young boys, even of five or six, 
to the office of reader, but by the sixth century the age of 
eighteen was required by law. In the Roman Catholic 
Church this order is little more than one of the steps to 
the priesthood. The reader (lector) ranks above a door- 
keeper and below an exorcist, and the form of ordination 
is the delivery to him of the book from which he is to read. 
In the Greek Church the reader (anagnost) ranks below a 
subdeacon, and it is his office, as it was in the early church, 
to read the Epistle, the deacon reading the Gospel. In 
the Church of England the order fell into abeyance after 
the Reformation, but lay readers were frequently licensed, 
especially in churches or chapels without a clergyman. 
They could not minister the sacraments and other rites of 
the church, except the burial of the dead and the church- 
ing of women, nor pronounce the absolution and benedic- 
tion. Of late years, however, bishops have regularly admit- 
ted candidates to the office of reader by delivery of a copy 
of the New Testament. lu the American Episcopal Church 
lay readers conduct services in vacant churches or under 
a rector by his request with license from the bishop for a 
definite period (a year or less). They cannot give absolu- 
tion or benediction, administer sacraments, nor use the 
occasional offices of the church except those for the burial 
of the dead and visitation of the sick and prisoners, nor 
deliver sermons of their own composition. (2) One who 
reads the law in a Jewish synagogue. (3) In the Universi- 
ties of Oxford and Cambridge, the English Inns of Court, 
etc. , a lecturer, or, where there are two grades of lecturers, 
a lecturer ot the higher grade, the others being called sub- 
lectors or lecturers. 
4. A reading-book for schools ; a book contain- 
ing exercises in reading Gentle reader, lay 
reader, etc. See the adjectives, 
readership (re'der-ship), n. [< reader + -ship.] 
The office of reader. See reader, 3 (d) (3). 
Oxford has decided to establish a Readership in Ge- 
ography. Nature, XXXV. 475. 
readily (red'i-li), adv. [< ME. redely, reddely, 
redili, rediliche; < ready + -ly 2 .] 1. In a ready 
manner; with facility; quickly; speedily; 
promptly; easily. 
4983 
On hir fete wexen saugh I 
Partriches winges redely. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1392. 
Mr. Carlyle is for calling down fire from Heaven when- 
ever he cannot readily lay his hand on the match-box. 
LoweU, Study Windows, p. 128. 
2. With readiness or alacrity; without delay 
or objection ; willingly. 
She answered that she could readily obey what her father 
and mother had done. Pepys, Diary, July 17, 1665. 
I readily grant that one truth cannot contradict another. 
Locke. 
3f. Just now; at once. 
A tydynge for to here , . . 
That shal uat now be told for me, 
For it no nede is redely. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 2137. 
=Syn. See ready. 
readiness (red'i-nes), . [Early mod. E. readi- 
nes, redynes ; < ME. redinesse, redynesse; (.ready 
+ -ness.] 1. The condition of being ready ; the 
state of being adapted or in condition for im- 
mediate use or action ; present preparedness or 
fitness ; ready availability or qualification. 
At the Archynale there be closed within, alwaye in a 
redynesse to set forth whan they woll. 
Sir R. Guylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 7. 
If it [death] be not now, yet it will come ; the readiness 
is all. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 234. 
Probed many hearts, beginning with his own, 
And now was far in readiness for God. 
Browning, Ring and Book, L 16. 
2. Ready action or movement ; instant facility 
or aptitude ; promptness ; quickness : as, readi- 
ness of thought or of speech ; readiness in off- 
hand drawing. 
I thought, by your readiness in the office, you had con- 
tinued in it some time. Shak., M. for M., ii. 1. 275. 
Good abstractive power shows itself in a superior readi- 
ness to frame any kind of concept. 
J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 385. 
3. Eeady disposition; present willingness; 
mental preparedness. 
They received the word with all readiness of mind. 
Acts xvii. 11. 
Digby made his peace with Cromwell, and professes his 
readiness to spend his blood for him. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 274. 
= Syn. 2. Readiness, Facility, Expertness, Knack, prompti- 
tude, aptness, preparation, preparedness, inclination. The 
first four words agree in meaning that the person can do 
a thing with ease and quickness. Readiness emphasizes 
promptitude : as, readiness in repartee. Facility by deri- 
vation emphasizes ease, whether partly natural or wholly 
acquired. (See ease, n.) Expertness is facility acquired : 
as, expertness with the pen, at figures, in working a sewing- 
machine; it Is primarily physical, and especially manual, 
but also mental. Knack is a familiar word, applying to 
facility or expertness viewed as a happy and rather sur- 
prising possession of skill or faculty. 
reading (re'ding),_w. [< ME. redynge, reeding, 
reading, < AS. raiding, reading, a reading, a 
passage or lesson, also rule, government ; ver- 
bal n. of riedan, counsel, rule, read: see read^.] 
1. The act of interpreting; interpretation; ex- 
position, as of a riddle or dream; interpreta- 
tion of signs, marks, or the like ; a rendering 
or discovery of what is signified by the state or 
marking of an instrument, by arbitrary signs 
of any kind, or by the existing condition or ac- 
tion of anything: as, the readings of a steam- 
indicator ; a correct reading of the sky (as to 
weather), or of a person's countenance or pro- 
ceedings. 
For instance, if the freezing-point is lowered, we must 
subtract the amount of fall from each reading. 
J. Trowbridge, New Physics, p. 187. 
Take the readings of the two pegs [in adjusting a field 
level], which will give their true difference of level. 
Set. Amer. Supp., p. 8905. 
2. The particular interpretation given to a 
composition of any kind, an event or a series 
of events, etc. ; also, a rendering in speech, act, 
or performance ; delineation ; representation. 
You charm me, Mortimer, with your reading of my weak- 
nesses. By-the-by, that very word Reading, in its critical 
use, always charms me. An actress's reading of a cham- 
ber-maid, a dancer's reading of a hornpipe, a singer's read- 
ing of a song, a marine-painter's reading of the sea, the 
kettle-drum's reading of an instrumental passage, are 
phrases ever youthful and delightful. 
Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, ill. 10. 
For Englishmen in their own tongue to have from such 
a man [Von Ranke] a reading of the most critical period of 
English history would be a boon of incalculable value. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 58. 
His reading of Bach's Italian Concerto was a scramble, 
so far as the first aud last movements were concerned^ 
The Academy, June 29, 1889, p. 456. 
3. The act of perusing that which is written or 
printed ; perusal. 
You write with ease to show your breeding, 
But easy writing '8 curst hard reading. 
Sheridan, Olio's Protest. 
readjust 
4. The utterance or recital of recorded words. 
either from the record (as a printed page) or 
from memory ; specifically, a public lection or 
lecture: as, to give readings from the poets, 
or upon law or philosophy. See read 1 , v. i., 6. 
The Jews had their weekly readings of the law. 
The readings [in the Inns of Court] were from the very 
first deemed of vital importance, and were delivered in the 
halls with much ceremony. Encyc. Brit., XIII. 88. 
5. That which is read or to be read ; any writ- 
ten or printed medium of thought or intelli- 
gence ; recorded matter or material. 
It is in newspapers that we must look for the main 
reading of this generation. De Quincey, Style, i. 
Remembering his early love of poetry and fiction, she 
unlocked a bookcase, and took down several books that 
had been excellent reading in their day. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, ix. 
6. The indication of a graduated instrument : 
as, the reading of a barometer. 7. Textual 
structure or construction ; a form, expression, 
or collocation in a writing, or in a particular 
copy or impression of it ; a version : as, the 
various readings of a passage in Shakspere ; the 
reading seems to be corrupt. 
When you meet with several Readings of the Text, take 
heed you admit nothing against the Tenets of your Church. 
Selden, Table-Talk, p. 22. 
Disjunctor reading. See disjunctor. Penny reading, 
an amateur entertainment consisting of readings, recita- 
tions, music, etc., admission to which is only one penny : 
common in the British Islands, where such entertainments 
seem to have been introduced about I860. Reading 
segrotat. See aegrotat. Beading notice. See notice. 
reading (re'ding),j). a. Inclined to read ; hav- 
ing a taste for reading ; of a studious disposi- 
tion: as, a reading community __ Beading man. 
See man. 
William himself was not a reading man. 
Macaulay, Hist Eng., vii. 
reading-book (reMing-buk), n. [< ME. *red- 
ing-bok, < AS. rseding-boc, reading-book, lec- 
tionary, < reeding, reading, + Me, book.] 1. 
A lectionary. 2. A book containing selections 
to be used as exercises in reading. 
reading-boy (re'ding-boi), n. In printing, a 
boy employed to read copy to a proof-reader; 
a reader's assistant: in the United States called 
copy-liolder. 
reading-desk (re'ding-desk), n. A desk adapt- 
ed for use in reading; specifically, a high desk 
for holding a book or manuscript to be read by 
a person while standing; in a church, same as 
lectern, 1. 
He feared he should acquit himself badly in St. Ewold's 
reading-desk. TroUope, Barchester Towers, xxiii. 
reading-glass (re'ding-glas), n. A magnifying 
lens set in a frame with a handle, for use in 
reading fine print, or for persons with defec- 
tive vision. 
reading-lamp (re 'ding-lamp), n. A lamp es- 
pecially adapted for use in reading; specifi- 
cally, a form of lamp for use in public reading 
or speaking, arranged so that its light is con- 
centrated upon the reading-desk. 
reading-pew (re'ding-pu), . In English 
churches, a pew from which to read part of 
the service; especially, after the Reformation, 
an inclosure in the body of a church, with a 
door, seat, and desk or desks, used instead of 
the older and later form of reading-desk or 
stalls. 
reading-room (re'ding-rom), n. 1. An apart- 
ment appropriated to reading ; a room furnished 
with newspapers, periodicals, etc., to which per- 
sons resort for reading. 2. A room or closet set 
apart for the use of professional proof-readers. 
reading-stand (re'ding-stand), . A stand to 
support a book, (a) Same as reading-table, (b) Same 
as reading-desk. 
reading-table (re'ding-ta"bl), n. A table pro- 
viding support for a heavy book or books, when 
in use, and frequently space for other books 
needed for consultation, and the like. There 
are many patterns, some having a revolving top. 
readjourn (re-a-jern'), v. t. and i. [< F. rta- 
jonrner, readjourn; as re- + adjourn. Cf. re- 
journ.] To adjourn again. 
Parliament assembling again . . . was then re-adjourned 
by the king's special command till Tuesday next. 
Sir U. Wotton, Reliquire, p. 443. 
readjournment (re-a-jern'ment), . [< F. re- 
ajournement, readjoiirnment;' as readjourn + 
-ment.] A succeeding adjournment; adjourn- 
ment anew. 
readjust (re-a-jusf), v. t. [< re- + adjust.] 1 . 
To settle again ; put in order again, as what had 
been discomposed. 
