Standard Lemma guide

computation

noun · 4 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌkɒmpjʊˈteɪʃn̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American, dialectal: /ˌkɑmpjʊˈteɪʃn̩/ of Canada
  • Canada, dialectal: /ˌkɒmpjʊˈteɪʃən/ of the US
  • Australian: /ˌkɔmpjʊˈtæɪʃən/
  • Brisbane Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Zealand: /ˌkɒmpjʊˈtæɪʃən/
  • New-Zealand: [ˌkɔ̟mpjʊˈtæɪʃən]
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA2 M P Y AH0 T EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act or process of computing; calculation; reckoning.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The result of computation; the amount computed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the procedure of calculating; determining something by mathematical or logical methods

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: calculation, computing

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: procedure, process

Narrower terms: transposition, number crunching, mathematical process, mathematical operation, operation, recalculation

4

noun

Meaning 4

problem solving that involves numbers or quantities

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: calculation, figuring, reckoning

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: problem solving

Narrower terms: extrapolation, interpolation, conversion, estimate, estimation, approximation, idea, derived function, derivative, differential coefficient, differential, first derivative, integral

History

Etymology

From late Middle English computacioun, from Middle French computation, from Latin computatiō, from computare (“sum up, reckon, compute”); see compute. Morphologically compute + -ation.

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: تحسيب — the act or process of computing
  • Armenian: հաշվարկ (hašvark) — the act or process of computing
  • Bulgarian: изчисление (izčislenie) — the act or process of computing
  • Catalan: còmput — the act or process of computing
  • Dutch: berekening — the act or process of computing
  • Finnish: laskeminen — the act or process of computing
  • French: calcul — the act or process of computing
  • French: comptage — the act or process of computing
  • German: Berechnung — the act or process of computing
  • German: Rechnen — the act or process of computing
  • Ancient Greek: συλλογισμός (sullogismós) — the act or process of computing
  • Ido: komputo — the act or process of computing
  • Indonesian: komputasi — the act or process of computing
  • Irish: ríomh — the act or process of computing
  • Italian: calcolo — the act or process of computing
  • Italian: computo — the act or process of computing
  • Japanese: 計算 (keisan) — the act or process of computing
  • Middle English: computacioun — the act or process of computing
  • Middle English: acounte — the act or process of computing
  • Persian: محاسبه — the act or process of computing
  • Portuguese: cálculo — the act or process of computing
  • Portuguese: computação — the act or process of computing
  • Portuguese: cômputo — the act or process of computing
  • Romanian: calcul — the act or process of computing
  • Russian: вычисле́ние (vyčislénije) — the act or process of computing
  • Scottish Gaelic: tomhas — the act or process of computing
  • Slovak: výpočet — the act or process of computing
  • Spanish: cálculo — the act or process of computing
  • Spanish: cómputo — the act or process of computing
  • Tagalog: tuos — the act or process of computing
  • Tagalog: pagtutuos — the act or process of computing
  • Tajik: муҳосаба (muhosaba) — the act or process of computing
  • Welsh: cyfrifiant — the act or process of computing
  • Bulgarian: разчет (razčet) — the result of computation
  • Catalan: còmput — the result of computation
  • Catalan: resultat — the result of computation
  • French: résultat — the result of computation
  • German: Berechnung — the result of computation
  • Ido: komputuro — the result of computation
  • Tagalog: tuos — the result of computation
Real reading context

computation in complete knowledge articles