Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Read \Read\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Read}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Reading}.] [OE. reden, r[ae]den, AS. r[=ae]dan to read,
   advice, counsel, fr. r[=ae]d advise, counsel, r[=ae]dan
   (imperf. reord) to advice, counsel, guess; akin to D. raden
   to advise, G. raten, rathen, Icel. r[=a][eth]a, Goth.
   r[=e]dan (in comp.), and perh. also to Skr. r[=a]dh to
   succeed. [root]116. Cf. Riddle.]
   1. To advise; to counsel. [Obs.] See {Rede}.

            Therefore, I read thee, get to God's word, and
            thereby try all doctrine.             --Tyndale.

   2. To interpret; to explain; as, to read a riddle.

   3. To tell; to declare; to recite. [Obs.]

            But read how art thou named, and of what kin.
                                                  --Spenser.

   4. To go over, as characters or words, and utter aloud, or
      recite to one's self inaudibly; to take in the sense of,
      as of language, by interpreting the characters with which
      it is expressed; to peruse; as, to read a discourse; to
      read the letters of an alphabet; to read figures; to read
      the notes of music, or to read music; to read a book.

            Redeth [read ye] the great poet of Itaille.
                                                  --Chaucer.

            Well could he rede a lesson or a story. --Chaucer.

   5. Hence, to know fully; to comprehend.

            Who is't can read a woman?            --Shak.

   6. To discover or understand by characters, marks, features,
      etc.; to learn by observation.

            An armed corse did lie, In whose dead face he read
            great magnanimity.                    --Spenser.

            Those about her From her shall read the perfect ways
            of honor.                             --Shak.

   7. To make a special study of, as by perusing textbooks; as,
      to read theology or law.

   {To read one's self in}, to read about the Thirty-nine
      Articles and the Declaration of Assent, -- required of a
      clergyman of the Church of England when he first
      officiates in a new benefice.

Reading \Read"ing\, n.
   1. The act of one who reads; perusal; also, printed or
      written matter to be read.

   2. Study of books; literary scholarship; as, a man of
      extensive reading.

   3. A lecture or prelection; public recital.

            The Jews had their weekly readings of the law.
                                                  --Hooker.

   4. The way in which anything reads; force of a word or
      passage presented by a documentary authority; lection;
      version.

   5. Manner of reciting, or acting a part, on the stage; way of
      rendering. [Cant]

   6. An observation read from the scale of a graduated
      instrument; as, the reading of a barometer.

   {Reading of a bill} (Legislation), its normal recital, by the
      proper officer, before the House which is to consider it.

Reading \Read"ing\, a.
   1. Of or pertaining to the act of reading; used in reading.

   2. Addicted to reading; as, a reading community.

   {Reading book}, a book for teaching reading; a reader.

   {Reading desk}, a desk to support a book while reading; esp.,
      a desk used while reading the service in a church.

   {Reading glass}, a large lens with more or less magnifying
      power, attached to a handle, and used in reading, etc.

   {Reading man}, one who reads much; hence, in the English
      universities, a close, industrious student.

   {Reading room}, a room appropriated to reading; a room
      provided with papers, periodicals, and the like, to which
      persons resort.

Source : WordNet®

reading
     n 1: the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic
          message; "he enjoys reading books"
     2: a datum about some physical state that is presented to a
        user by a meter or similar instrument; "he could not
        believe the meter reading"; "the barometer gave clear
        indications of an approaching storm" [syn: {meter reading},
         {indication}]
     3: a particular interpretation or performance; "on that reading
        it was an insult"; "he was famous for his reading of
        Mozart"
     4: written material intended to be read; "the teacher assigned
        new readings"; "he bought some reading material at the
        airport" [syn: {reading material}]
     5: a mental representation of the meaning or significance of
        something [syn: {interpretation}, {version}]
     6: a city on the River Thames in Berkshire in southern England
     7: a public instance of reciting or repeating (from memory)
        something prepared in advance; "the program included songs
        and recitations of well-loved poems" [syn: {recitation}, {recital}]
     8: the act of measuring with meters or similar instruments; "he
        has a job meter reading for the gas company" [syn: {meter
        reading}]