computer
Syllables: com·put·er/kəmˈpjuː.tə/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/kəmˈpjʉw.tə/
computer noun: 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.
Noun
computer (plural computers)
- 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.
- Meronyms: processor, microprocessor, CPU
- I spend around 6 hours a day at the computer.
- A person employed to perform computations; one who computes.
- I haue read the truest computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth thy dayes into a short number: The daies of Man are threescore and ten.1613, Richard Brathwait, The Yong Mans Gleanings, page 1
- By which manner of ſpeaking, this Propheteſs, who is ſo exact a Computer, would have us, I ſuppoſe, to conclude, that it would be a great miſtake to think that the number of Angels was either 9, or 11 for one of Men.1674, “To the Guardian-Angel”, in Reflexions upon the Devotions of the Roman Church, London: Richard Royston, page 419
- Synonyms:
- computator, mental calculator, human calculator
- A male computer.
- Coordinate term: (female) computress
Verb
computer (third-person singular simple present computers, present participle computering, simple past and past participle computered)
- To use a computer.
- Cool he was computering, though. My dad, who is only in his 60's (mom too) thinks he is too busy to get connected to the internet. Oh well. More bandwidth for the rest of us, huh?1995 December 31, Roxanne Coyle, “B'days”, in bit.listserv.words-l (Usenet)
- I don't know if you have the same violent mood-swing issues that I do, but I was bustling around the house feeling very useful and good, and then I was sitting here computering for a while, and suddenly it was like a giant butterfly net scooped me up and threw me into an old mayonnaise jar, […]2004, The World According to Mimi Smartypants, London: HarperCollinsEntertainment, →ISBN, page 36
- To send via computer.
- They had immediately computered the description out to the scores of law enforcement agencies in Southern California.1988, Marcel Montecino, The Crosskiller, New York, N.Y.: Arbor House; William Morrow, →ISBN, page 351
- 'Nah. It was him hated it more than me. Fish out of water. Cops watching every move he makes. Memos about him computered to every nick in the land. He was too innocent for this hi-tech world, Bobby. Would've been back inside in no time at all.'2001, Will Kingdom, Mean Spirit, London […]: Bantam Press, →ISBN, page 428
- To transfer onto a computer; to computerize.
- I know there are storage warehouses in New York and Virginia and all over the place, St. Louis, and many other places, that keep these things. I think this is a very fertile area for this committee, and perhaps computering it, or microfilm preservation, or things of that sort.1972 March 20, Benny L. Kass, quotee, U.S. Government Information Policies and Practices: Administration and Operation of the Freedom of Information Act, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing...
- Our sincere thanks are due to Antje Reuter, Jens Adam and Uwe Horstmann for computering the manuscript and Ralph Phillips and Kirsten Techmer for proof reading it.1983, H. Ahrendt, N. Clauer, J. C. Hunziker, K. Weber, “Migration of Folding and Metamorphism in the Rheinische Schiefergebirge Deduced from K-Ar and Rb-Sr Age Determinations”, in Intracontinental...
computer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
computer in Hindi
- programmable electronic device
- संगणक saṅgṇak, कंप्यूटर kampyūṭar, अभिकलित्र abhiklitra
computer in Tamil
- programmable electronic device
- கணினி kaṇiṉi, கம்ப்யூட்டர் kampyūṭṭar
computer in Marathi
- programmable electronic device
- संगणक saṅgṇak
computer in Urdu
- programmable electronic device
- کَمْپْیُوٹَر kampyūṭar, حاسِب hāsib, شمارندہ șumārinda
More languagesFewer languages
- computer in Bengali
- কম্পিউটার kompiuṭar, গণকযন্ত্র gonkojontro, গণনাযন্ত্র gononajontro, সংগনক śoṅgonok
- computer in Telugu
- కంప్యూటర్ kampyūṭar, గణనయంత్రం gaṇanayantraṁ
- computer in Malayalam
- സംഗണകം saṅgaṇakaṁ, ഗണിനി gaṇini, കമ്പ്യൂട്ടർ kampyūṭṭaṟ, എണ്ണിനി eṇṇini
- computer in Kannada
- ಗಣಕಯಂತ್ರ gaṇakayantra
- computer in Punjabi
- ਸੰਗਣਕ saṅgṇak
- computer in Gujarati
- સંગણક saṅgṇak
- computer in Odia
- କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର kampyuṭara
- computer in Sanskrit
- संगणक saṃgaṇaka, अभिकलित्र abhikalitra
- computer in Sinhala
- පරිගණකය parigaṇakaya
- computer in Assamese
- কম্পিউটাৰ kompiutar, পৰিকলন যন্ত্ৰ porikolon zontro, সংগণক যন্ত্ৰ xoṅgonok zontro
- computer in Nepali
- कम्प्युटर kampyuṭar, सुसाङ्ख्य susānkhya
- computer in Pashto
- کمپيوټر kampyūṭar
- computer in Tagalog
- taga-kompyut, kompiyuter, ordenador, panuos
- computer in Arabic
- مُحَاسِب muḥāsib, حَاسُوب ḥāsūb, حَاسِب ḥāsib, كَمْبْيُوتَر kambyūtar
- computer in Malay
- komputer
- computer in Indonesian
- komputer
- computer in Persian
- کَمْپْیُوتَر kampyūtar, رایانِه râyâne, کامْپْیوتِر kâmpyuter
- computer in Thai
- คอมพิวเตอร์ kɔm-piu-dtə̂ə, คณิตกรณ์ ká-nít-dtà-gɔɔn, คอม kɔm
- computer in Vietnamese
- máy vi tính, máy điện toán, máy tính, máy tính điện tử
- computer in Myanmar
- ကွန်ပျူတာ kwanpyuta
- Dzongkha
- གློག་རིག glog rig
Examples of computer in a sentence
- As well as saving the photos on my computer, I have them backed up on a USB drive.
- David is a computer expert.
- Janet works at the computer store.
- Powers, an American computer, disproved a hypothesis about prime numbers which had held the field for more than 250 years.1927, J. B. S. Haldane, Possible Worlds and Other Essays, London: Chatto & Windus, page 173:
- At that time, the word computer referred to a person, and those group calculations may be viewed as the early steps of parallel computing.2001, Michael L. overton, Numerical Computing with IEEE Floating Point Arithmetic, SIAM, page 1:
- One Harvard computer, Annie Jump Cannon, used her repetitive acquaintance with the stars to devise a system of stellar classifications so practical that it is still in use today.2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 116:
Synonyms of computer
- 'puter
- box
- computator
- mental calculator
- human calculator
- machine
- calculator
- data processing machine
- electronic brain
- electronic computer
2 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of computer
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | computers |
| alternative form (obsolete) | computor |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | computers |
| present participle | computering |
| past participle | computered |
| past | computered |
Origin of computer
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.
Words formed from computer
- anticomputer
- compucondria
- compunications
- compusex
- computeracy
- computer-aided design
- computer-aided translation
- computer architecture
- computerate
- computerbased
- computer-based
- computer-based teaching
- computer chess
- computer chip
- computercide
- computer code
- computer conferencing
- computer-controlled timing
- computer core
- computer dating
- computerdom
- computer duster
- computer engineer
- computer engineering
- computerese
- computeresque
- computerette
- computerful
- computer game
- Computergate
- computer-generated
- computer graphics
- computerholic
- computer illiteracy
- computer illiterate
- computerisation
- computerise
- computerism
- computerist
- computeristic
- computeritis
- computerize
- computer lab
- computerland
- computer language
- computerless
- computerlike
- computer literacy
- computer-literate
- computer literate
- computerlore
- computer-mediated communication
- computer model
- computer network
- computernik
- computerologist
- computerology
- computer paper
- computer person
- computerphile
Phrases with computer
- computer labs
- computer shop
- computer vira
- computer viri
- dive computer
- home computer
- trip computer
- computer chips
- computer cores
- computer games
- computer shops
- computer virus
66 more phrasesFewer phrases
- analog computer
- computer models
- computer papers
- computer people
- computer system
- computer vision
- domino computer
- gaming computer
- hybrid computer
- laptop computer
- pocket computer
- server computer
- tablet computer
- zombie computer
- computer dusters
- computer persons
- computer program
- computer says no
- computer science
- computer systems
- computer viruses
- desktop computer
- digital computer
- lap-top computer
- quantum computer
- spatial computer
- ternary computer
- analogue computer
- computer networks
- computer programs
- computer sciences
- computer security
- deskside computer
- midrange computer
- notebook computer
- pedestal computer
- personal computer
- portable computer
- wearable computer
- appliance computer
- briefcase computer
- classical computer
- computer languages
- computer processor
- computer programme
- computer scientist
- reservoir computer
- computer literacies
- computer processors
- computer programmer
- computer programmes
- computer scientists
- computer simulation
- computer technician
- electronic computer
- computer programmers
- computer programming
- computer simulations
- computer technicians
- the computer says no
- computer programmings
- computer architectures
- computer vision syndrome
- electromechanical computer
- electro-mechanical computer
- Small Computer Systems Interface
Words that rhyme with computer
4 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about computer
- What does computer mean?
- Computer means 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.
- What is computer in Hindi?
- Computer in Hindi is संगणक (saṅgṇak), कंप्यूटर (kampyūṭar), अभिकलित्र (abhiklitra). See Computer meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use computer in a sentence?
- As well as saving the photos on my computer, I have them backed up on a USB drive.
- What part of speech is computer?
- Computer can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce computer?
- Computer is pronounced /kəmˈpjuː.tə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of computer?
- The plural of computer is computers.
Words near computer in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: computer (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-computer.ogg, En-us-computer.ogg.
Cite this entry: “computer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/computer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.