To think; to imagine; to believe; to conjecture; to conclude; to guess. Used in some parts of the United States, as guess is in the Northern. It is provincial in England in the same sense, and is noticed in the glossaries of Pegge and Brockett. Mr. Hamilton, in his remarks on the Yorkshire dialect, says: "'I reckon' comes out on every occasion, as perhaps aliens would expect from this country of 'ready reckoners.'"--Nugæ Literariæ, p. 317.
General, I guess we best say nothin' more about bribin', says I. "Well," says he, "Major, I reckon you're right.--Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 208.
I say! what do you guess about lending me your axe for a spell? Do you reckon you can spare it?--Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 84.
I reckon you hardly ever was at a shooting-match, stranger, from the cut of your coat.--Georgia Scenes, p. 198.