reception

re·cep·tion
R1E1C3E1P3T1I1O1N1
/ɹɪˈsɛp.ʃn̩/

noun

The act of receiving.

“We have poor TV reception in the valley.”

CommonScrabble 13

Meanings

nounreception (countable and uncountable, plural receptions)

plural receptions

  1. countableuncountableThe act of receiving.

    Synonyms: receipt

  2. uncountablebusinessThe act or ability to receive radio or similar signals.

    We have poor TV reception in the valley.

    1 more example

    The new system provides exceptional quality of the reception signal.

  3. countableuncountableA social engagement, usually to formally welcome someone.

    After the wedding we proceeded to the reception.

    1 more example

    "There was warmth, but there was also trepidation," said the head of one gay group, who attended the reception.

    2009 June 29, Chris Good, “Obama's Warm LGBT Reception”, in The Atlantic
  4. countableuncountableA reaction; the treatment received on first talking to a person, arriving at a place, etc.

    The ambassador's jokes met a cold reception.

    3 more examples

    At the end of a week, she could bear the suspense no longer, and so went humbly to her old home and sought forgiveness. She was not repulsed, but her reception was cold; and this hurt her almost as badly.

    1850, T. S. Arthur, “Happy on a Little”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 89

    The crusty portier and the crusty clerks gave us the surly reception which their kind deal out in prosperous times, but by mollifying them with an extra display of obsequiousness and servility we finally got them to show us to the room which our boy had engaged for us.

    1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym] (Samuel L[anghorne] Clemens), A Tramp Abroad; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

    Former Tottenham star Rohan Ricketts came off the Rovers bench with 19 minutes to go to a warm reception from the home fans, six years after leaving the Lane.

    2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport
  5. countableuncountableThe desk of a hotel or office where guests are received.

    The reception of the hotel is on the second floor; exit the lift and turn right.

    Synonyms: front desk

  6. UKcountableuncountableeducationThe school year, or part thereof, between preschool and Year 1, when children are introduced to formal education.

    Synonyms: kindergarten

  7. countableuncountablelawThe conscious adoption or transplantation of legal phenomena from a different culture.

    Among the numerous receptions of Roman law one event stood out, to the extent that, at least in central Europe, it almost monopolized the term.

    1942 October, Ernst Levy, “Reflections on the First "Reception" of Roman Law in Germanic States”, in The American Historical Review, →JSTOR, page 20
  8. countableuncountableAmerican footballThe act of catching a pass.

    Henderson can play multiple techniques, man and off, and over the last two seasons, he yielded just 20 receptions, on 44 targets, in single coverage on the boundary, according to Pro Football Focus, making him a prime candidate to start there as a rookie.

    2020 April 23, Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2020
  9. countableuncountablehuman sciencesReading viewed as the active process of receiving a text in any medium (written, spoken, signed, multimodal, nonverbal), consisting of several steps, such as ideation, comprehension, reconstruction, interpretation.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe act of receiving.

Similar

nounThe desk of a hotel or office where guests are received.

Similar

nounThe school year, or part thereof, between preschool and Year 1, when children are introduced to formal education.

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe manner in which something is greeted

Similar

nounthe act of receiving

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinreceptiōn-“the act of receiving; reception”
  2. Middle Frenchreception
  3. Middle Englishrecepcion, reception
  4. Englishreception

From Middle English recepcion, reception, from Middle French reception, from Latin receptiōn- (“the act of receiving; reception”), from recipiō (“receive”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to hold”). Equivalent to receive + -tion.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ὑποδοχή, δοχή
  • ὑποδοχή (hupodokhḗ)social engagement
  • δοχή (dokhḗ)social engagement
Arabic اِسْتِقْبَال, اِسْتِقْبَال
  • اِسْتِقْبَال (istiqbāl)act of receiving
  • اِسْتِقْبَال (istiqbāl)social engagement
  • حَفْلَة اِسْتِقْبَال (ḥaflat istiqbāl)social engagement
  • مَكْتَب الِاسْتِقْبَال (maktab al-istiqbāl)front desk
Bengali এস্তেকবাল
  • এস্তেকবাল (estekbal)social engagement
Bulgarian получа́ване, прие́мане
  • получа́ване (polučávane)act of receiving
  • прие́мане (priémane)act of receiving
  • прие́мане (priémane)electronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • прие́м (priém)social engagement
  • реце́пция (recépcija)front desk
Catalan recepció
  • recepciófront desk
Chinese Mandarin 接收, 接收能力
  • 接收 (jiēshōu)act of receiving
  • 接收能力 (jiēshōu nénglì)electronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • 招待會 /招待会 (zhāodàihuì)social engagement
  • 反應 /反应 (fǎnyìng)reaction
  • 接待處 /接待处 (jiēdàichù)front desk
  • 櫃檯 /柜台 (guìtái)front desk
  • 前臺 /前台 (qiántái)front desk
  • 接受處 /接受处 (jiēshòuchù)front desk
Czech obdržení, přijetí
  • obdrženíact of receiving
  • přijetíact of receiving
  • příjemelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • recepcesocial engagement
  • přijetíreaction
  • recepcefront desk
Danish modtagelse, modtagning
  • modtagelseact of receiving
  • modtagningelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • receptionsocial engagement
  • modtagelsereaction
  • receptionfront desk
Dutch ontvangst, ontvangst
  • ontvangstact of receiving
  • ontvangstelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • receptiesocial engagement
  • ontvangstreaction
  • receptiefront desk
  • baliefront desk
Esperanto akcepto, akcepto
  • akceptoact of receiving
  • akceptosocial engagement
  • akceptejofront desk
Estonian vastuvõtt
  • vastuvõttfront desk
Finnish vastaanotto, vastaanotto
  • vastaanottoact of receiving
  • vastaanottoelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • vastaanottosocial engagement
  • vastaanottoreaction
  • vastaanottoadoption of legal phenomena from a different culture
  • vastaanottofront desk
French réception, réception
  • réceptionact of receiving
  • réceptionelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • accueilsocial engagement
  • réceptionsocial engagement
  • réceptionfront desk
German Empfang, Empfang
  • Empfangact of receiving
  • Empfangelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • Empfangsocial engagement
  • Rezeptionfront desk
  • Empfangfront desk
Greek υποδοχή, υποδοχή
  • υποδοχή (ypodochí)social engagement
  • υποδοχή (ypodochí)front desk
  • ρεσεψιόν (resepsión)front desk
Hindi अगवानी
  • अगवानी (agvānī)act of receiving
Hungarian átvétel, fogadás
  • átvételact of receiving
  • fogadásact of receiving
  • vételelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • térerőelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • fogadássocial engagement
  • fogadtatásreaction
  • recepciófront desk
Icelandic móttökuskilyrði
  • móttökuskilyrðielectronics: act or ability to receive signals
Irish glacadh, deasc fáiltithe
  • glacadhelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • deasc fáiltithefront desk
Italian ricevimento, ricezione
  • ricevimentoact of receiving
  • ricezioneelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • ricevimentosocial engagement
  • accoglienzareaction
  • receptionfront desk
  • ricezionefront desk
Japanese 受付, 受理
  • 受付 (uketsuke)act of receiving
  • 受理 (juri)act of receiving
  • 収容 (shūyō)act of receiving
  • 入会 (nyūkai)act of receiving
  • 加入 (kanyū)act of receiving
  • 受信 (jushin)electronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • 感度 (kando)electronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • 接待 (settai)social engagement
  • 宴会 (enkai)social engagement
  • 披露宴 (hirōen)social engagement
  • 受け (uke)reaction
  • 反応 (hannō)reaction
Korean 응접, 환영회
  • 응접 (eungjeop)act of receiving
  • 환영회 (hwanyeonghoe)social engagement
  • 리셉션 (risepsyeon)social engagement
  • 접수처 (jeopsucheo)front desk
  • 리셉션 (risepsyeon)front desk
  • 프런트 (peureonteu)front desk
Latin receptiō
  • receptiōact of receiving
Malay sambutan
  • sambutanreaction
Māori taupaepae
  • taupaepaefront desk
Norwegian Bokmål mottakelse, mottak
  • mottakelseact of receiving
  • mottakelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • resepsjonsocial engagement
  • mottakelsesocial engagement
  • resepsjonfront desk
Polish odbiór, zasięg
  • odbióract of receiving
  • zasięgelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • przyjęciesocial engagement
  • recepcjafront desk
Portuguese recepção, recepção
  • recepçãoact of receiving
  • recepçãoelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • recepçãosocial engagement
  • recepçãoreaction
  • recepçãofront desk
Russian приём, приня́тие
  • приём (prijóm)act of receiving
  • приня́тие (prinjátije)act of receiving
  • приём (prijóm)electronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • приём (prijóm)social engagement
  • банке́т (bankét)social engagement
  • приём (prijóm)reaction
  • реце́пция (recépcija)adoption of legal phenomena from a different culture
  • приёмная (prijómnaja)front desk
  • сто́йка администра́тора (stójka administrátora)front desk
  • регистрату́ра (registratúra)front desk
  • ресе́пшен (resɛ́pšen)front desk
  • реце́пция (recépcija)front desk
Slovak recepcia, recepcia
  • recepciasocial engagement
  • recepciafront desk
Spanish recepción, cobertura
  • recepciónact of receiving
  • coberturaelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • recibimientosocial engagement
  • recepciónsocial engagement
  • recepciónfront desk
Swahili upokeaji, upokeaji
  • upokeajiact of receiving
  • upokeajisocial engagement
  • upokeajireaction
  • mapokezifront desk
Swedish mottagande, mottagning
  • mottagandeact of receiving
  • mottagningelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • mottagningsocial engagement
  • receptionsocial engagement
  • mottagandereaction
  • receptionfront desk
  • vaktfront desk
Tagalog baysanan
  • baysanansocial engagement
Turkish resepsiyon
  • resepsiyonfront desk
Ukrainian прийо́м, прийо́м
  • прийо́м (pryjóm)act of receiving
  • прийо́м (pryjóm)social engagement
  • прийма́льня (pryjmálʹnja)front desk
  • реєстрату́ра (rejestratúra)front desk
Vietnamese phòng lễ tân, quầy lễ tân
  • phòng lễ tânfront desk
  • quầy lễ tânfront desk
Welsh derbyniad, derbyniad
  • derbyniadact of receiving
  • derbyniadelectronics: act or ability to receive signals
  • derbyniadsocial engagement
  • derbynfafront desk
Cite this entry
APA

reception. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reception

MLA

“reception.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reception. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reception,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reception.

Source: reception on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.