# compute

Pronunciation: say "kuhm-PYOOT" US /kəmˈpjut/, UK /kəmˈpjuːt/, AUS /kəmˈpjʉːt/

## Verb

1. To work out a value or result through calculation or reckoning.
   - Simple: To find a number or answer by doing math.
   - _Engineers compute the load each beam can bear before construction begins._
   - _The software computes shipping fees based on weight and distance._
3. To make sense or be logical, most often used in the negative and in playful imitation of a robot's flat, mechanical voice. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To make sense. Often used in the negative, when something seems strange or wrong.
   - _That story doesn't compute. The timeline makes no sense at all._
   - _He stared at the contradiction, muttering that it did not compute._

## Noun

2. The processing power of computer systems, treated as a resource that can be allocated and consumed.
   - Simple: The power that computers use to run programs and handle tasks.
   - _Cloud providers sell compute by the hour, charging for every processor cycle used._
   - _The research team ran out of compute halfway through the simulation._

## Origin

Borrowed in the 17th century from French computer, from Latin computō ('to calculate, compute'). It is a doublet of count.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/compute (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).