Reception \Re*cep"tion\, n. [F. r['e]ception, L. receptio, fr. recipere, receptum. See Receive.]

1. The act of receiving; receipt; admission; as, the reception of food into the stomach; the reception of a letter; the reception of sensation or ideas; reception of evidence.

2. The state of being received.

3. The act or manner of receiving, esp. of receiving visitors; entertainment; hence, an occasion or ceremony of receiving guests; as, a hearty reception; an elaborate reception.

What reception a poem may find. --Goldsmith.

4. Acceptance, as of an opinion or doctrine.

Philosophers who have quitted the popular doctrines of their countries have fallen into as extravagant opinions as even common reception countenanced. --Locke.

5. A retaking; a recovery. [Obs.]

--Bacon.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)