noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ˈkæl.kjə.leɪ.tə(ɹ)/
General-American:/kæl.kjə.leɪ.tɚ/
General-American:[ˈkhæɫ.kjəˌleɪ̯.ɾɚ]
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:K AE1 L K Y AH0 L EY2 T ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A mechanical or electronic device that performs mathematical calculations; (now usually) an electronic one specifically.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
electronic calculator; pocket calculator
The calculator on a bookkeeper's desk in the 1950s was an adding machine with mechanical guts.
I told him to hand me a calculator and he jokingly placed an adding machine at my side.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: electronic calculator
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: device, machine
2
noun
Meaning 2
A person who performs mathematical calculation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Examples
During the war, his grandmother had worked at the Bletchley Park decoding station as a calculator.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: computer, reckoner
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A person who calculates (in the sense of scheming).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
Near-synonyms: schemer, plotter; manipulator
He revealed himself to be a cold-blooded calculator out to sabotage his colleagues.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: schemer, plotter, manipulator
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A set of mathematical tables.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ready reckoner
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
a small machine that is used for mathematical calculations
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
an expert at calculation (or at operating calculating machines)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: reckoner, figurer, estimator, computer
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: expert
Narrower terms: adder, number cruncher, statistician, actuary, subtracter
History
Etymology
In the sense of a person, from Middle English calkelatour (“a mathematician, an astrologer”), borrowed from Latin calculātor, equivalent to calculate + -or. The other meanings arose in Modern English.
Across languages
Translations
230 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Abkhaz:
аԥхьаӡага
(apxjadzaga)
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations
Afrikaans:
sakrekenaar
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations
Albanian:
kalkulator
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations
Albanian:
kalkulatriçe
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations
Albanian:
llogaritës
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations
Albanian:
makinë llogaritëse
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations
Albanian:
njehsues
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations
Amharic:
ካልኩሌተር
(kalkuletär)
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations
Arabic:
حَاسِبَة
(ḥāsiba)
— electronic device that performs mathematical calculations