Recompute

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To carry out a calculation again, usually to update or correct a result
2. To perform a computation anew to obtain an updated value or correct any errors
3. To redo a mathematical or logical process in order to refresh or revise the outcome

Etymology: The prefix "re-" here does ordinary work: it means "again," so "recompute" is simply "compute once more." The base word traces back through Old French "computer" to Latin "computare," meaning "to reckon together" or "to count up," built from "com-" ("together") and "putare" ("to think, reckon, prune"). That Latin verb is the source of the sense of arithmetic reckoning that the English word carries. Because "compute" entered English as a borrowing from French, the "re-" was attached in English rather than inherited from Latin. The prefix is productive in English and attaches freely to verbs, so the formation required no special coinage. The word's sense in modern use, performing a calculation again to get an updated result or to correct errors, follows directly from that original idea of reckoning a total.

Synonyms: recalculate, redetermine, reassess