readership (redership)

[ Oxford has decided to establish a Readership in Geography. Nature , XXXV. 475. readily (red'i-li), adv. [ IMG:content-1697.png:[blocks in formation] 31. Just now; at once. A tydynge for to here... That shal nat now be told for me, For it no nede is redely . =Syn. See ready . Locke . Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 2137. readine (red'i-nes), n. [Early mod. E. read i nes, redynes; At the Archynale there be closed within, alwaye in a redyne e to set forth whan they woll. Sir R. Guylforde , Pylgrymage, p. 7. If it [death] be not now, yet it will come; the readine is all. Shak ., Hamlet, v. 2. 234. Probed many hearts, beginning with his own, And now was far in readine for God. Browning , Ring and Book, I. 16. 2. Ready action or movement; instant facility or aptitude; promptne ; quickne : as, read i ne of thought or of speech; readine in offhand drawing. I thought, by your readine in the office, you had continued in it some time. Shak., M. for M., ii. 1. 275. Good abstractive power shows itself in a superior read i ne to frame any kind of concept. J. Sully , Outlines of Psychol., p. 385. 3. Ready disposition; present willingne ; mental preparedne . They received the word with all readine of mind. Acts xvii. 11. Digby made his peace with Cromwell, and profe es his readine to spend his blood for him. Lowell , Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 274. =Syn. 2. Readine , Facility, Expertne , Knack, promptitude, aptne , preparation, preparedne , inclination. The first four words agree in meaning that the person can do a thing with ease and quickne . Readine emphasizes promptitude: as, readine in repartee. Facility by der i vation emphasizes ease, whether partly natural or wholly acquired. (See ease, n.) Expertne is facility acquired: as, expertne 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 expertne viewed as a happy and rather surprising po e ion of skill or faculty. reading (re'ding), n. [ For instance, if the freezing-point is lowered, we must subtract the amount of fall from each reading . J. Trow bridge , New Physics, p. 187. Take the readings of the two pegs [in adjusting a field level], which will give their true difference of level. Sci . 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 ne es. By-the-by, that very word Reading, in its critical use, always charms me. An actre 's reading of a chamber-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 pa age, are phrases ever youthful and delightful. Dickens , Our Mutual Friend, iii. 10. For English men 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. readjust 4. The utterance or recital of recorded words, either from the record (as a printed page) or from memory; spécifically, a public lection or lecture: as, to give readings from the poets, or upon law or philosophy. See read1, v. i., 6. The Jews had their weekly readings of the law. Hooker . 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 written or printed medium of thought or intelligence; 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, expre ion, or collocation in a writing, or in a particular copy or impre ion of it; a version: as, the various readings of a pa age 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, recitations, music, etc., admi ion to which is only one penny: common in the British Islands, where such entertainments seem to have been introduced about 1860.- Reading ægrot at. See ægrot at. - Reading notice. See notice. reading (re'ding), p. a. Inclined to read; having a taste for reading; of a studious disposition: as, a reading community. - Reading man. See man. William himself was not a reading man . Macaulay , Hist. Eng., vii. reading-book (rē'ding-bük), n . [ ing - bok , ræding - bōc , reading-book, lectionary, ræding , reading, + bōc , book.] 1. A lectionary.- 2. A book containing selections to be used as exercises in reading. reading-boy (rē'ding-boi), п . In printing , a boy employed to read copy to a proof-reader; a reader's a istant: in the United States called copy-holder.