compute

verb

com·​pute kəm-ˈpyüt 

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

3

informal : to make sense

No matter how you do the math, it will not work. … It simply does not compute.

—Chuck Finder

Synonyms of compute

• calculate
• figure

Examples of compute in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

In a new letter to shareholders published Thursday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote that the new king of the Fortune 500 is now generating an annual run rate of $15 billion for the AI activities within its cloud computing unit. —Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2026

Today, Amazon rents that hardware to customers of Amazon Web Services, the cloud-computing unit. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2026

After all, people using the internet will require computing power from somewhere. —Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026

Bridging that gap efficiently has become increasingly difficult as computing demand rises. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 8 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin computare — more at count

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing compute

• pre-compute

Rhymes for compute

• acute
• aleut
• astute
• beetroot
• breadfruit
• cheroot
• commute
• confute
• dilute
• dispute
• elute
• grapefruit

Kids Definition

compute

verb

com·​pute kəm-ˈpyüt 

computed; computing

1

: to determine or calculate especially by mathematical means

also : to determine or calculate by means of a computer

2

informal : to make sense

computable

-ˈpyüt-ə-bəl

adjective

Etymology

from Latin computare "to count, compute" — related to account, count entry 1