What is the full scope of meaning of "deposit-taking" in banking parlance? Is it limited to actual deposits, or does it include deposit accounts, check writing, and payment of checks?

Deposit taking generally means the acceptance of a deposit into a deposit account, checking, savings, or time accounts.

What I meant by "full scope" was to clarify whether, as apparently is used in general banking parlance, activities "incidental" to deposit-taking include all basic activities related to deposit accounts, including payment of customer items drawn on a deposit account, and not merely the narrow sense of "deposits only," but both crediting and debiting on deposit accounts. My question is very elementary and has to do with terminology. There would thus seem to be two senses of "deposit-taking": (1) strictly deposits, and more generally (2) all activities incidental to deposit-taking. The second meaning aligns with the meaning of "deposit-taking institutions."

perhaps the definition from the CFR:

(l) The term "deposit" means--

(1) the unpaid balance of money or its equivalent received or held by a bank or savings association in the usual course of business and for which it has given or is obligated to give credit, either conditionally or unconditionally, to a commercial, checking, savings, time, or thrift account, or which is evidenced by its certificate of deposit, thrift certificate, investment certificate, certificate of indebtedness, or other similar name, or a check or draft drawn against a deposit account and certified by the bank or savings association, or a letter of credit or a traveler's check on which the bank or savings association is primarily liable: Provided, That, without limiting the generality of the term "money or its equivalent", any such account or instrument must be regarded as evidencing the receipt of the equivalent of money when credited or issued in exchange for checks or drafts or for a promissory note upon which the person obtaining any such credit or instrument is primarily or secondarily liable, or for a charge against a deposit account, or in settlement of checks, drafts, or other instruments forwarded to such bank or savings association for collection,......

12 USC 7.4007 Deposit-Taking therefore covers not only "actual deposits" or the crediting of deposited funds but also the complementary debiting of deposited funds on deposit accounts, e.g. withdrawing funds by writing checks. The customer-bank deposit-taking relationship is a reciprocal debtor-creditor relationship which goes back and forth depending on the account balance.

As an example in relation to overdrafts: OCC Interpretive Letter #1082 May 17, 2007 June 2007 Overdraft Practices 12 USC 24(7) 12 USC 7.4007a 12 USC 7.4002 http://www.occ.treas.gov/interp/jun07/int1082.pdf

“Where a customer creates debits on his or her account for amounts in excess of the funds available in that account, a bank may elect to honor the overdraft and then recover the overdraft amount as part of its posting of items and clearing of the depositor’s account. These activities are part of or incidental to the business of receiving deposits.” (p. 3)

Another similar example from the FRB Commercial Bank Examination Manual, p. 3. on “Deposit Taking: A client’s private-banking relationship frequently begins with a deposit account and then expands into other products. ...Deposit accounts serve as conduits for a client’s money flows. ...
The client’s transaction activity, such as wire transfers, check writing, and cash deposits and withdrawals, is conducted through deposit accounts ... .”
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cbem/200910/0910cbem.pdf

A definition of deposit-taking from an online financial dictionary:

Banking: At its most basic, banking involves an institution holding money on behalf of customers that is payable to the customer on demand, either by appearing at the bank for a withdrawal or by writing a check to a third party."

The basic definition is expanded to lending and other services:

"The banking system also provides loans to businesses and individuals. Many banks also perform other services for a fee. ...”

http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/banking