Compute

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kəmˈpjuːt/

Definitions

1. To carry out mathematical operations using a device or manually ; to figure out an answer or conclusion through logical thinking
2. To process numbers or data systematically to obtain results ; to form an opinion or assessment based on available information
3. To calculate values or solve mathematical problems ; to deduce or infer something after considering facts or evidence

Etymology: The verb "compute" is a good example of a word that looks like it should be simple arithmetic but is really a bookkeeping term in disguise. Its Latin ancestor "computare" combined "com-" (together) with "putare," meaning to reckon, think or prune, so the original sense was closer to adding up a sum together. "Putare" is the same root that gave English "amputate" and "putative," so a single Latin verb spread its meanings in quite different directions. The word reached English in the 17th century, borrowed from French "computer," which had itself been taken from Latin "computō" ("calculate, compute"). English speakers already had a close relative in "count," which came through a separate path from the same Latin source, making the two a doublet. Over the centuries "count" drifted toward everyday tallying, while "compute" kept a more formal, numerical flavour, which is why it sounds at home in ledgers and later in machines.

Synonyms: calculate, reckon, figure, evaluate

Antonyms: estimate, guess