The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Read \Read\ (r[=e]d), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Read (r[e^]d); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Reading.] [OE. reden, r[ae]den, AS. r[=ae]dan
   to read, advise, counsel, fr. r[=ae]d advice, counsel,
   r[=ae]dan (imperf. reord) to advise, 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.
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            Therefore, I read thee, get thee to God's word, and
            thereby try all doctrine.             --Tyndale.
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   2. To interpret; to explain; as, to read a riddle.
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   3. To tell; to declare; to recite. [Obs.]
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            But read how art thou named, and of what kin.
                                                  --Spenser.
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   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.
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            Redeth [read ye] the great poet of Itaille.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            Well could he rede a lesson or a story. --Chaucer.
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   5. Hence, to know fully; to comprehend.
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            Who is't can read a woman?            --Shak.
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   6. To discover or understand by characters, marks, features,
      etc.; to learn by observation.
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            An armed corse did lie,
            In whose dead face he read great magnanimity.
                                                  --Spenser.
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            Those about her
            From her shall read the perfect ways of honor.
                                                  --Shak.
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   7. To make a special study of, as by perusing textbooks; as,
      to read theology or law.
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   To read one's self in, to read aloud 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.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Reading \Read"ing\ (r[=e]d"[i^]ng), n.
   1. The act of one who reads; perusal; also, printed or
      written matter to be read.
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   2. Study of books; literary scholarship; as, a man of
      extensive reading.
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   3. A lecture or prelection; public recital.
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            The Jews had their weekly readings of the law.
                                                  --Hooker.
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   4. The way in which anything reads; force of a word or
      passage presented by a documentary authority; lection;
      version.
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   5. Manner of reciting, or acting a part, on the stage; way of
      rendering. [Cant]
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   6. An observation read from the scale of a graduated
      instrument; as, the reading of a barometer.
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   Reading of a bill (Legislation), its formal recital, by the
      proper officer, before the House which is to consider it.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Reading \Read"ing\, a.
   1. Of or pertaining to the act of reading; used in reading.
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   2. Addicted to reading; as, a reading community.
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   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.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

reading
    n 1: the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic
         message; "his main reading was detective stories";
         "suggestions for further reading"
    2: a particular interpretation or performance; "on that reading
       it was an insult"; "he was famous for his reading of Mozart"
    3: 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: reading, meter reading,
       indication]
    4: written material intended to be read; "the teacher assigned
       new readings"; "he bought some reading material at the
       airport" [syn: reading, reading material]
    5: a mental representation of the meaning or significance of
       something [syn: interpretation, reading, 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, reading]
    8: the act of measuring with meters or similar instruments; "he
       has a job meter reading for the gas company" [syn: reading,
       meter reading]

The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

READING, n.  The general body of what one reads.  In our country it
consists, as a rule, of Indiana novels, short stories in "dialect" and
humor in slang.

    We know by one's reading
    His learning and breeding;
    By what draws his laughter
    We know his Hereafter.
    Read nothing, laugh never --
    The Sphinx was less clever!
                                                          Jupiter Muke