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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

computer.

A programmable electronic device that performs mathematical calculations and logical operations, especially one that can process, store and retrieve large amounts of data very quickly; now especially, a small one for personal or home use employed for manipulating text or graphics, accessing the Internet, or playing games or media.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kəmˈpjuː.tə/Received-Pronunciation/kəmˈpjʉw.tə/British, Southern, Standard/kəmˈpɪʊtə/Wales/kəmˈpjʉː.tə/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. A programmable electronic device that performs mathematical calculations and logical operations, especially one that can process, store and retrieve large amounts of data very quickly; now especially, a small one for personal or home use employed for manipulating text or graphics, accessing the Internet, or playing games or media.

    I spend around 6 hours a day at the computer.
    As well as saving the photos on my computer, I have them backed up on a USB drive.
  2. A person employed to perform computations; one who computes.

    historical
  3. A person employed to perform computations; one who computes. A male computer.

    historical
Where this word comes from

From compute + -er. Doublet of cantore, counter, and kontor. The sense referring to people first appears c. 1613 in the works of the poet Richard Brathwait. The sense referring to a machine first appears c. 1897 in the magazine Engineering.

verb/kəmˈpjuː.tə/Received-Pronunciation/kəmˈpjʉw.tə/British, Southern, Standard/kəmˈpɪʊtə/Wales/kəmˈpjʉː.tə/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. To use a computer.

    intransitive · nonstandard · rare
  2. To send via computer.

    nonstandard · rare · transitive
  3. To transfer onto a computer; to computerize.

    nonstandard · rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

From compute + -er. Doublet of cantore, counter, and kontor. The sense referring to people first appears c. 1613 in the works of the poet Richard Brathwait. The sense referring to a machine first appears c. 1897 in the magazine Engineering.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.