computer

Etymology

From compute +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpjuːtə/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpjutɚ/, [kəmˈpʰjuɾɚ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: com‧put‧er
• Rhymes: -uːtə(r)

Noun

computer (plural computers)

1. (now rare, chiefly historical) A person employed to perform computations; one who computes. [from 17th c.]
   • 1674, “To the Guardian-Angel”, in Reflexions upon the Devotions of the Roman Church, London: Richard Royston, page 419:

     By which manner of ſpeaking, this Propheteſs, who is ſo exact a Computer, would have us, I ſuppoſe, to conclude, that it would be a great miſtake to think that the number of Angels was either 9, or 11 for one of Men.

   • 1927, J. B. S. Haldane, Possible Worlds and Other Essays, page 173

     Only a few years ago Mr. Powers, an American computer, disproved a hypothesis about prime numbers which had held the field for more than 250 years.

   • 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 116:

     One Harvard computer, Annie Jump Cannon, used her repetitive acquaintance with the stars to devise a system of stellar classifications so practical that it is still in use today.

2. (by restriction, chiefly historical) A male computer, where the female computer is called a computress.
3. A programmable electronic device that performs mathematical calculations and logical operations, especially one that can process, store and retrieve large amounts of data very quickly; now especially, a small one for personal or home use employed for manipulating text or graphics, accessing the Internet, or playing games or media. [from 20th c.]

   Synonyms: processor, 'puter (informal), box (slang), machine, calculator

See also

Further reading

• computer on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• computer on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Etymology

Borrowed from English computer.

Noun

computer c (singular definite computeren, plural indefinite computere)

1. computer (machine)

Etymology

Borrowed from English computer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔmˈpjutər/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

computer m (plural computers, diminutive computertje n)

1. computer

Verb

computer

1. first-person singular present indicative of computeren
2. imperative of computeren

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin computō, computāre (“to compute, sum up”). See also the doublets compter, and conter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.py.te/

Verb

computer

1. (archaic, rare) to compute
   • 1802, François-René de Chateaubriand, Génie du christianisme

     Quant aux ères, ici on compte par l'année de la création, là par olympiade, par la fondation de Rome, par la naissance de Jésus-Christ, par l'époque d'Eusèbe, par celle des Séleucides, celle de Nabonassar, celle des martyrs. Les Turcs ont leur hégire, les Persans leur yezdegerdic. On compute encore par les éres julienne, grégorienne, ibérienne et actienne.

     As the eras, here they compute by the year of the creation, there by olympiads, by the foundation of Rome, by the birth of Christ, by the epoch of Eusebius, by that of Seleucids, of Nabonassar, of the Martyrs. The Turks have their hegira, the Persians their yezdegerdie. The Julian, Gregorian, Iberian and Actian eras, are also employed in computation.

See also

• supputer
• compter

Further reading

• “computer” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• compteur

Etymology

Borrowed from English computer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /komˈpju.ter/, [komˈpjuːt̪er̺]

• Audio

  (file)

• Stress: compùter
• Hyphenation: com‧pu‧ter

Noun

computer m (invariable)

1. computer (calculating device)

Verb

computer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of computō

Etymology

Borrowed from English computer.

Noun

computer n (plural computere)

1. computer

Etymology

Borrowed from English computer.

Noun

computer m (plural computers)

1. computer