11/16/2017 Computer | Define Computer at Dictionary.

com

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theday/) definitions computer

The weirdest jobs that actually exist (http://www.dictionary.com/e/s/odd-jobs/?src=dcom-serp-tab)

computer
[kuh m-pyoo-ter]
Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com (http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/computer)

noun
1. a programmable electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display
the results of these operations. Mainframes, desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones are some of the different types of
computers.
Compare analog computer (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/analog-computer), digital computer (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/digital-
computer).

2. a person who computes (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/compute); computist.

Origin of computer

Middle French (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/middle-french)

1640-1650

1640-50; compute (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/compute) + -er (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/-er)1; compare Middle French

computeur

Related forms

computerlike, adjective

noncomputer, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2017.

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Examples from the Web for computer

Contemporary Examples

In this war, the targeting is often happening on computer monitors thousands of miles away, capturing images from drones.

The weirdest jobs that actually exist (http://www.dictionary.com/e/s/odd-jobs/?src=dcom-serp-tab)

Pentagon Doesnt Know How Many People Its Killed in the ISIS War (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/07/pentagon-doesn-t-know-how-many-people-it-s-killed-in-
(http://www.thedailybeast.com?
the-isis-war.html?source=dictionary)
source=dictionary)
Nancy A. Youssef (http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/nancy-a-youssef.html?source=dictionary)
January 6, 2015

The resources were what you might expect: Dining room, a media center, a library, a TV room, a meeting room, a computer room.

His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/03/his-first-day-out-of-jail-after-40-years-adjusting-to-life-
(http://www.thedailybeast.com?
outside.html?source=dictionary)
source=dictionary)
Justin Rohrlich (http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/justin-rohrlich.html?source=dictionary)
January 2, 2015

Just a few short years ago, I sat down at my computer, and I typed out a similar goodbye letter.

Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/01/dear-leelah-we-will-fight-on-for-you-a-letter-to-a-dead-
(http://www.thedailybeast.com?
trans-teen.html?source=dictionary)
source=dictionary)
Parker Molloy (http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/parker-molloy.html?source=dictionary)
December 31, 2014

Turn off the TV, put down your phone, and log off the computer.

Why Your New Years Diet Will Fail (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/30/why-your-new-year-s-diet-will-fail.html?source=dictionary)

(http://www.thedailybeast.com?
source=dictionary)
Carrie Arnold (http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/carrie-arnold.html?source=dictionary)
December 29, 2014

He grew up both a computer geek in the early days of video games and an avid record collector.

DJ Spooky Wants You To Question Everything You Know About Music, Technology, and Philosophy (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/27/dj-spooky-on-music-
(http://www.thedailybeast.com?
philosophy-and-the-joy-of-being-a-trickster.html?source=dictionary)
source=dictionary)
Oliver Jones (http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/oliver-jones.html?source=dictionary)
December 26, 2014

Historical Examples

Of course Ned was a perfect shotso would I be with a computer for a brain.

Arm of the Law (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29204/29204-h/29204-h.htm)

Harry Harrison

Start When this switch is operated, the computer will start.

Preliminary Specifications: Programmed Data Processor Model Three (PDP-3) (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29461/29461-h/29461-h.htm)

Digital Equipment Corporation

Banasel was whistling tunelessly as he set up readings on a computer.

The Players (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22426/22426-h/22426-h.htm)

Everett B. Cole

The or is simply one stroke, or one stick laid down by the computer.

The Hindu-Arabic Numerals (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22599/22599-h/22599-h.htm)

David Eugene Smith

It would be something like a computer; that was as far as he was able to go.

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11/16/2017 Computer | Define Computer at Dictionary.com

The Cosmic Computer (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20727/20727-h/20727-h.htm)

Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for computer

computer

The weirdest jobs that actually exist (http://www.dictionary.com/e/s/odd-jobs/?src=dcom-serp-tab)

/kmpjut/

noun
1. a. a device, usually electronic, that processes data according to a set of instructions. The digital computer stores data in discrete units and
performs arithmetical and logical operations at very high speed. The analog computer has no memory and is slower than the digital computer
but has a continuous rather than a discrete input. The hybrid computer combines some of the advantages of digital and analog computers See
also digital computer (/browse/digital-computer), analog computer (/browse/analog-computer), hybrid computer (/browse/hybrid-computer)
b. (as modifier): computer technology, related prefix cyber-

2. a person who computes or calculates

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition

William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for computer

n.

1640s, "one who calculates," agent noun from compute (/browse/compute) (v.). Meaning "calculating machine" (of any type) is from 1897; in
modern use, "programmable digital electronic computer" (1945 under this name; theoretical from 1937, as Turing machine). ENIAC (/browse/eniac)
(1946) usually is considered the first. Computer literacy is recorded from 1970; an attempt to establish computerate (adjective, on model of
literate) in this sense in the early 1980s didn't catch on. Computerese "the jargon of programmers" is from 1960, as are computerize and
computerization.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A New York Congressman says the use of computers to record personal data on individuals, such as their credit
background, "is just frightening to me." [news article, March 17, 1968]

Online Etymology Dictionary, 2010 Douglas Harper

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computer in Science

computer (km-py 'tr) (http://content.dictionary.com/help/dictionary/ahsd/pronkey.html)

A programmable machine that performs high-speed processing of numbers, as well as of text, graphics, symbols, and sound. All computers contain
a central processing unit that interprets and executes instructions; input devices, such as a keyboard and a mouse, through which data and
commands enter the computer; memory that enables the computer to store programs and data; and output devices, such as printers and display
screens, that show the results after the computer has processed data.
The American Heritage Science Dictionary
Copyright 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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computer in Culture

computer definition

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 11/16/2017 Computer | Define Computer at Dictionary.com

An electronic device that stores and manipulates information. Unlike a calculator (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/calculator), it is able to store a
program (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/program) and retrieve information from its memory. Most computers today are digital, which means
they perform operations with quantities represented electronically as digits.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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