Computer Meaning
/kəmˈpjuːtə/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA 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.
nounA person employed to perform computations; one who computes.
Sentence Examples
My computer has got to be useful for something.
So annoying... Now I get a headache whenever I use the computer!
The research shows that computer games may cause aggression.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
She bought a new ____ with a powerful processor for gaming.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I bought a new portable ____ to work comfortably from the cafe.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"Only a few years ago Mr. 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:
"During World War II, scientific laboratories had rooms full of people doing different parts of a complicated calculation using pencil and paper, slide rules, and mechanical calculators. 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:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She bought a new ____ with a powerful processor for gaming.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I bought a new portable ____ to work comfortably from the cafe.