computer English · revision 3174

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1646}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /kəmˈpjuː.tə/, US /kəmˈpjuː.t̬ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|compute|-er]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) the verb being [[der|la|computāre|t=to calculate]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who makes calculations, a reckoner: 1646,^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) or the 1640s,^(Etymonline) especially someone employed to calculate in an observatory or in surveying.^(Cresswell 2021)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first computers were people, not machines.^(Cresswell 2021) Johnson (1755) defined the word as “reckoner; accountant; calculator”.^(Johnson 1755) A calculating machine of any type was called a computer from 1897,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the modern sense, a programmable electronic device for calculations and logical operations, dates from the 1940s:^(Cresswell 2021) Etymonline records it under this name in 1945, and ENIAC (1946) is usually considered the first.^(Etymonline) Words formed on it followed: ''computerese'', ''computerize'' and ''computerization'' from 1960,^(Etymonline) ''computer dating'' from 1966,^(OED 1989) ''computer literacy'' from 1970,^(Etymonline) and ''computer virus'' from 1984.^(OED 1989) Earlier words for a person who calculates were computator, from about 1600, and computist, from the late 14th century, one skilled in reckoning the calendar.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1646 – a person who calculates.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1897 – a calculating machine.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1945 – a programmable electronic computer.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1960 – ''computerize'', ''computerese''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1970 – ''computer literacy''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1984 – ''computer virus''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An electronic device that stores and processes [[data]] according to a set of instructions, a [[program]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(NODE 1998)

+ # ''(historical)'' A person who makes [[calculation|alt=calculations]], especially one employed to do so.^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[computerdom]]

+ * [[computerless]]

+ * [[computerlike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[compute]]

+ * [[computation]]

+ * [[computing]]

+ * [[count]]

+ * [[computerize]]

+ * [[computist]]

+ * [[reputation]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}