computation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English computacion,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman computation (“calculation”), recorded in Anglo-Norman from the 14th century, and directly borrowed from Latin computātiō (“calculation, reckoning”).^[3][4][5] The Latin noun is formed from computātus, the past participle of computō (“to sum up, reckon”),^[3][6][7][8] which is the source of compute and is formed from com- (“with, together”) and putō (“to reckon”), originally "to prune".^[6] Etymonline traces the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *pau- (“to cut, strike, stamp”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or process of reckoning or counting; arithmetical calculation: c. 1425, in John Lydgate's Troy Book.^[3] Etymonline dates the word to about 1400,^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1375–1425.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the late 16th century the word also meant the result of a calculation, a computed number or amount (1586), a sense now rare,^[3][8] and between 1558 and 1684 it had the wider sense of estimation or consideration.^[3] Johnson (1755) gave both "the act of reckoning" and "the sum collected or settled by calculation", quoting Shakespeare's Richard III.^[9] The 20th century added the use of electronic computers, and the study of it, recorded from 1953.^[3][2]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – the action of reckoning or calculating.^[3]
• 1558 – estimation, consideration (obsolete by 1684).^[3]
• 1586 – a computed number or amount.^[3]
• 1953 – the use of computers; computer science.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or process of computing; calculation or reckoning: By her computation, the trip would take nine days.^[2][10][3]
2. The use or operation of a computer, especially as a field of study.^[2][3][8]
3. A result reached by calculation (now rare).^[3][8]

Word family

• computational
• computationally
• computative
• computatively
• miscomputation
• noncomputation
• recomputation

Related words

• compute
• computer
• count

References

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