Recalculating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To adjust previously established calculations in light of new information received
2. Finding new answers by revising earlier computations when conditions or data change
3. Working out updated figures by modifying prior calculations to accommodate recent updates

Etymology: Ancient Romans counted with pebbles: "calculus" meant a small stone, and the word for reckoning on a counting board took its name from that object. The English verb "calculate" came from this Latin "calculare," and "recalculate" is simply "calculate" with the prefix "re-" attached, meaning to work the sum again. The prefix itself arrived in English through Old French, which had taken it from Latin, where "re-" carried the sense of "back" or "again." The Latin "calculus" was itself a diminutive of "calx," a word for limestone or a pebble, and it passed through Italian and French before English adopted the root. Because "calculus" kept its original sense of a small stone, the medical term for hardened mineral deposits in the body still uses the same word today.

Synonyms: reassessing, re-evaluating