compute

Syllables: com·pute/kəmˈpjuːt/US/kəmˈpjut/

compute verb: to reckon, calculate.

Verb

compute (third-person singular simple present computes, present participle computing, simple past and past participle computed)

(transitive) To reckon, calculate.
- Can anyone here compute the square root of 10201?
- Effulgence of my Glorie, Son belov’d, / Son in whoſe face inviſible is beheld / Viſibly, what by Deitie I am, / And in whoſe hand what by Decree I doe, / Second Omnipotence, two dayes are paſt, / Two dayes, as we compute the dayes of Heav’n, / Since Michael and his Powers went forth to tame / Theſe...1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
(informal, intransitive) To make sense. (commonly used in mimicry of a science fictional robot and spoken in a robotic voice; most frequently in negative constructs)
- Does that compute, or do I need to explain further?
- Then at the last minute Harris was brought aboard as Dr. Zachary Smith, initially an authentic, lip-curling nogoodnik who, it was presently discovered, could be better used for laughs played off Mumy and a sober-sided robot (“You bubbleheaded booby,” sneers Harris. “That does not compute,” returns...1966 September 24, TV Guide, Radnor, Pa., page 25, column 1

Noun

compute (uncountable)

(chiefly cloud computing) Computational processing power (number of operations per unit of time) or computational work (to be) done (number of operations).
- The GPU does not have enough on-chip SRAM memory for the parameters, and doesn't have enough compute to run the entire model in real time.
- Once you have the total, does it exceed the maximum amount of compute that can be served up in your vCenter environment? It is quite normal for users to consume everything you provide.2015, J. Powell, Mastering vRealize Automation 6.2, page 41

compute meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada

compute in Tamil

கணக்கிடு, கணி, மதிப்பிடு

compute in Bengali

গনা, গণনা করা, গুনতি করা, হিসাব করা, সংখ্যা করা

compute in Malayalam

കണക്കുകൂട്ടുക, നിർണ്ണയിക്കുക, എണ്ണുക

compute in Kannada

ಎಣಿಸು, ಲೆಕ್ಕಹಾಕು

More languagesFewer languages

compute in Tagalog: tuusin, magtuos

Examples of compute in a sentence

"When we have ascertained exactly how little will serve we shall be able to compute how long we shall be able to exist."1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
Coxhead (2000) computed that the AWL covered approximately 10% of the academic corpus from which it was derived[.]2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists...
“That does not compute,” returns the robot dryly).1966 September 24, TV Guide, Radnor, Pa., page 25, column 1:
And you'd feel an utter fool if, when you asked where the biscuit was, a message came out: "Biscuits do not compute.1967 August 2, The Australian Women's Weekly, Sydney, page 46, column 2:

All 40 example sentences with compute

Forms of compute

third-person singular present	computes
present participle	computing
past participle	computed
past	computed

Past tense of compute: computed

Origin of compute

17th century. Borrowed from French computer, from Latin computō (“calculate, compute”). Doublet of count.

Words formed from compute

Words that rhyme with compute

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about compute

What does compute mean?: Compute means to reckon, calculate.
What is compute in Tamil?: Compute in Tamil is கணக்கிடு, கணி, மதிப்பிடு. See Compute meaning in Tamil.
How do you use compute in a sentence?: "When we have ascertained exactly how little will serve we shall be able to compute how long we shall be able to exist."
What part of speech is compute?: Compute can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce compute?: Compute is pronounced /kəmˈpjuːt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of compute?: The past tense of compute is computed.

Words near compute in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: compute (page history and authors); compute (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); compute (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); compute (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); compute (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-compute.wav.

Cite this entry: “compute.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/compute. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.