Etymologically

calculo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkaɫ.kʊ.ɫoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkal.ku.lo][1]

Forms

calculō (present infinitive calculāre, perfect active calculāvī, supine calculātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from calculus “pebble, counting stone, reckoning” with the verb suffix -ō, and a deponent ⟨calculor⟩ also occurs.[1][2][3] ⟨Calculus⟩ is a diminutive of calx “limestone, pebble”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short call it late Latin and cite Prudentius.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to calculate, compute, reckon, as in Prudentius, and figuratively to reckon as, esteem, value, as in Sidonius.[3][5] A noun calculō, -ōnis meant an accountant, as in Augustine.[3][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to compute, reckon, count.[6] English calculate came in the 1560s from its participle, replacing Middle English calculen from Old French.[7]

Timeline

  • Late Latin – Prudentius uses it of reckoning.[3][5]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses the noun calculō.[3][4]
  • 1560s – English calculate is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To calculate, compute.[3][5]
  2. To reckon as, esteem.[3]

Word family

  • caculātum
  • calculātiō
  • calculātor
  • calculātōrius
  • calculātrīx
  • calculātūra

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com