calculation

Etymology

It is borrowed from French calculation,^[2][3][4] and also directly from Late Latin calculātiō (“a reckoning, computation”),^[5][6][7][8] a noun of action from calculō (“to reckon, compute”),^[6][8] from calculus (“a reckoning; a pebble used in counting”), a diminutive of calx (“limestone, small stone”).^[6] The verb is also the source of calculate.^[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or process of reckoning, computation: 1393, in John Gower's Confessio Amantis;^[2][9] Etymonline dates calculacioun to the late 14th century, in the senses "the art of computing by numbers" and also "the making of a horoscope".^[6]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense, the result of a reckoning, is recorded from 1646, in Sir Thomas Browne;^[2] Johnson (1755) gave both "a practice or manner of reckoning" and "the result of arithmetical operation".^[10] An estimate of probability, a forecast, is recorded from 1848, in Bulwer-Lytton.^[2] The sense of careful, often selfish, planning of one's own advantage developed alongside the verb calculate^[3][11] and is recorded by Merriam-Webster as deliberate, prudent planning.^[5]

Timeline

• 1393 – reckoning, computation.^[2]
• 1646 – the result of a reckoning.^[2]
• 1848 – an estimate of probability, a forecast.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act or process of working out an amount or number using mathematics: Her calculation of the tax was correct.
2. The result of such a process.
3. An estimate of what is likely to happen; a forecast.
4. Careful planning or forethought, especially for one's own advantage: There was cold calculation behind his generosity.

Word family

• calculative
• calculational
• precalculation

Related words

• calculable
• calculate
• calculator
• calculus
• chalk
• calcium

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins