computus

Forms

computus m (genitive computī); second declension^[1] Also compotus, conputus and, rarely, the neuter computum.^[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin computō (“to reckon, sum up”), a noun formed from the verb.^[1][3][4] It is the source of Italian computo and, through the spoken form, of conto (“account”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Firmicus Maternus is the first to use it, of learning to calculate (discere computōs).^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it is a calculation or reckoning,^[8][9] and Cassiodorus uses it in astronomy.^[4] Bede's De temporum ratione opens with a chapter on reckoning and finger-counting.^[2][10] From his time the word is above all the reckoning of time, the calendar and the calculation of Easter.^[2][10][11] Medieval charters list a computus among church books, a book of rules for the dates of movable feasts.^[12] Elsewhere it means arithmetic, an account, a number or a sum.^[11][2][13]

Timeline

• 334–337 AD – Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis: calculation.^[6][7]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in his treatise on astronomy.^[4][7]
• early 8th century – Bede: reckoning of time and finger-counting.^[2][10][7]
• 868 – A Catalan charter lists a computus among the books given to a church.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A calculation, reckoning.^[8][4][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) arithmetic.^[11]
3. (Medieval Latin) The reckoning of time, chronology; the calculation of the date of Easter.^[11][2][10]
4. (Medieval Latin) A calendar; a book of rules for the dates of the movable feasts.^[10][12]
5. (Medieval Latin) An account; a number, total.^[11][13]

Related words

• computō
• putō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
12. ^ a b c Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
13. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE