compute

play

verb com·pute \kəm-ˈpyüt\

Definition of compute

computed

;

computing

transitive verb
: to determine especially by mathematical means Compute the area of the triangle.; also : to determine or calculate by means of a computer computing pi to over one billion places
intransitive verb
1 : to make calculation : reckon They compute by weight in selling grain.
2 : to use a computer

See compute defined for English-language learners

See compute defined for kids

Examples of compute in a Sentence

for the test we were required to compute the answers without using a calculator

Recent Examples of compute from the Web

If all that is a lot to compute, the bottom line is this: Rosebrook and his team couldn’t make the product fast enough.

— emily barth isler, Allure, "Josh Rosebrook Vital Balm Cream Has a Waitlist of 600 People," 18 July 2017
To run its mammoth operation, Amazon needs computing power.

— OregonLive.com, "Oregon's 10 biggest construction projects," 16 July 2017
Revenue from cloud-computing customers rose fourfold in one year.

— david staats, idahostatesman, "The cloud is raining record revenue on Micron. Can it last? Here’s what Micron thinks," 29 June 2017
Computing giant IBM is getting into the weather modeling business.

— angela fritz, Washington Post, "IBM just threw its hat into the weather modeling ring," 22 June 2017
The offering will be closely watched by the advertising and broadcasting industries as the world's largest online retailer and cloud-computing company makes its first high-profile push into live sports.

— reuters, Fortune, "Here’s How Much Amazon Plans to Charge for NFL Thursday Night Football Ad Packages," 22 June 2017
If the cloud-computing business just grew, Amazon Prime was a bold bet from the beginning, the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet for shoppers: Pay an annual fee and all shipping costs for the year are covered.

— david streitfeld, The Seattle Times, "Behind Amazon’s success is an extreme tolerance for failure," 17 June 2017
Graphics and GPU compute performance, likewise, is mostly a wash.

— andrew cunningham, Ars Technica, "Mini-review: The 2017 MacBook could actually be your everyday laptop," 16 June 2017
Some of the toy-dog aspects of mobile computing remain, along with the compulsive ones, too.

— ian bogost, The Atlantic, "The App That Does Nothing," 9 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'compute.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of compute

Latin computare — more at count

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First Known Use: 1579

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COMPUTE Defined for English Language Learners

compute

play

verb

Definition of compute for English Language Learners

: to find out (something) by using mathematical processes

COMPUTE Defined for Kids

compute

play

verb com·pute \kəm-ˈpyüt\

Definition of compute for Students

computed

;

computing

: to find out by using mathematics compute a total

Word Root of compute

The Latin word putāre, meaning “to think,” gives us the root put. Words from the Latin putāre have something to do with thinking. A reputation is what other people think about something or someone. To compute is to use math to think about a bunch of numbers together in order to answer a problem. To dispute is to argue because two or more people think different things.