calculation
Pluralcalculations (some meanings)
- 1The act or process of finding an answer through mathematical operations.
The calculation of the rocket's trajectory required several hours of work.
Careful calculation is essential when splitting a restaurant bill among friends.
Similarcomputation, reckoning, arithmetic
Note
The mass-noun use names the activity rather than any figure it yields. Middle English took the word from Latin calculatio, and English now hears it as calculate plus -ion. Because it is uncountable, it takes no article in phrases like careful calculation or calculation by hand, by machine or by computer. Once it is pluralized, the word has moved over to the result of the work.
- 2The number or answer produced by a process of calculating.
The engineer's calculation indicated the beam could hold the load.
Several calculations confirmed the same final figure.
Similarcomputation, result, sum
Note
Here the word becomes countable and mostly plural, naming worked results that can be checked, compared or pushed further. Hugh D. Young's Statistical Treatment of Experimental Data (1962) speaks of a check on these calculations. In American Scientist (2012), Michael Riordan describes theorists prodding their calculations into new domains, only to meet infinities. In scientific prose, calculations are things a person owns, tests and extends.
- 3An estimate or reckoning of something, based on the information available.
By her calculation, the project would take about six months to finish.
The general's calculation of enemy strength proved far too low.
Similarestimate, reckoning, assessment, estimation, judgment
- 4An expectation about an outcome, formed from the surrounding circumstances.
The investor's calculation was that the market would recover within a year.
Every calculation about the weekend pointed to clear skies for the festival.
Similarexpectation, forecast, prediction, assumption, bet
- 5The mental process of working through sequences of possible moves and responses without touching the pieces.
Deep calculation allowed her to see the winning combination six moves ahead.
Under time pressure, his calculation broke down and he missed the threat.
Similaranalysis
Note
Chess players use the word for a skill as much as an act: tracing concrete lines of moves and replies, several plies deep, entirely in the head, in order to judge a position over the board. It stays uncountable, like the general act of calculating. A player's calculation is therefore described as deep or shallow, sound or faulty, rather than counted as one calculation among many.
Practice
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Origin
This word came through Middle English "calculation," borrowed from Latin "calculatio" (stem "calculationis"). It can also be analyzed as "calculate" plus the suffix "-ion."