means The act of receiving something or someone — whether a signal, a guest, a new idea, or a welcome — and by extension a social gathering held to greet people warmly.

from From Latin 'receptio,' a noun built from 'recipere,' meaning to take back or receive — itself a marriage of 're-' (back) and 'capere' (to take, grab, seize, the same root that gives us 'capture' and 'capable'). So at heart 'reception' is simply a taking-in. The wedding-party sense and the radio-signal sense both grew from that single idea: something arrives, and you take it in — a guest, a bride and groom, a broadcast wave.