# computer

Pronunciation: US say "kuhm-PYOO-tur" /kəmˈpjutɚ/; UK say "kuhm-PYOO-tuh" /kəmˈpjuːtə/

## Noun

1. A programmable electronic device that performs calculations and logical operations and can store and retrieve large amounts of data quickly, now especially a small one for personal use.
   - Simple: An electronic machine that stores information and follows instructions to do tasks like writing, games, or going online.
   - _The lab's computers process thousands of measurements every second._
   - _She uses her computer mainly for editing photos and browsing the web._

## Verb

3. To make use of or operate a computer. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: To use a computer.
4. To transfer data or records onto a computer; to computerize a process. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: To move information onto a computer, or to set up a system to use computers.
5. To send something to a recipient by means of a computer. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: To send a message or file to someone using a computer.

## Noun

2. A person employed to do mathematical calculations by hand, as before electronic computers. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: In the past, a person whose job was to do long sums and calculations by hand.
   - _Before electronic machines, every large observatory employed computers to reduce its observations._
   - _The young computer spent her days calculating tables of logarithms for the navy._

## Origin

Formed from compute plus the suffix -er, and a doublet of counter and kontor. The first sense appears around 1613 in the work of the poet Richard Brathwait, while the machine sense is on record by 1897 in the magazine Engineering.

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