calculator

calculator

English

An electronic calculator

Etymology

In the sense of a person, from Middle English calkelatour (“mathematician, astrologer”), borrowed from Latin calculātor, equivalent to calculate +‎ -or. The other meanings arose in Modern English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæl.kjə.leɪ.tə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kæl.kjə.leɪ.təɹ/, [ˈkʰæɫ.kjəˌleɪ̯.ɾɚ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

calculator (plural calculators)

1. A mechanical or electronic device that performs mathematical calculations.
2. (dated) A person who performs mathematical calculation
   • 2020, Paul Krugman, Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future, page 145:

     First, many real-world investors bear little resemblance to the cool calculators of efficient-market theory: they're all too subject to herd behavior, to bouts of irrational exuberance and unwarranted panic.

3. A person who calculates (in the sense of scheming).
   • 1858, John Cumming, Thy Word is Truth: an apology for Christianity, page 112:

     You have in the merchant the shrewd calculator of probable contingencies; we shall see that we have in the prophet the absolute proclaimer of necessary and inevitable facts.

4. (obsolete) A set of mathematical tables.

Synonyms

• (electronic device): electronic calculator, pocket calculator
• (mechanical device): adding machine
• (person who performs mathematical calculations): computer (dated)
• (person who schemes): plotter, schemer
• (mathematical tables): ready reckoner, tables

Derived terms

• coalition calculator
• electronic calculator
• graphing calculator
• pocket calculator
• scientific calculator

 

Related terms

• calculate

Translations

electronic device that performs mathematical calculations

Afrikaans: sakrekenaar Albanian: njehsues m, makinë llogaritëse f Amharic: ካልኩሌተር (kalkuletär) Arabic: حَاسِبَة‎ f (ḥāsiba) Armenian: հաշվիչ (hy) (hašvičʿ) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܚܵܫܘܿܒ݂ܘܿܢܵܐ‎ m (ḳašowona) Asturian: calculadora f Azerbaijani: kalkulyator Basque: kalkulagailu (eu) Belarusian: калькуля́тар m (kalʹkuljátar) Bengali: ক্যালকুলেটর (kẏalkuleṭôrô) Bulgarian: калкула́тор m (kalkulátor) Burmese: ဂဏန်းတွက်စက် (my) (ga.nan:twakcak) Catalan: calculadora (ca) f Cheyenne: hoéstónéó'o Chinese: Cantonese: 計數機, 计数机 (gai3 sou3 gei1) Mandarin: 計算器／计算器 (zh) (jìsuànqì), 計算機／计算机 (zh) (jìsuànjī) Czech: kalkulačka (cs) f, kalkulátor (cs) m, počítačka f Danish: lommeregner (da), regnemaskine c Dutch: rekenmachine (nl) f, zakrekenmachine (nl) f, rekentoestel n (Flemish), calculator (nl) m Esperanto: kalkulilo Estonian: kalkulaator, taskuarvuti Faroese: telduhvølpur m, roknimaskina f Finnish: laskin (fi) French: calculatrice (fr) f, calculette (fr) f Fula: Adlam: 𞤳𞤭𞥅𞤥𞤭𞤪𞤺𞤢𞤤‎, 𞤼𞤮𞤲𞤺𞤭𞤪𞤣𞤫‎ Latin: kiimirgal, tongirde Galician: calculadora f Georgian: კალკულატორი (ḳalḳulaṭori) German: Rechner (de) m, Taschenrechner (de) m Greek: αριθμομηχανή (el) f (arithmomichaní), (colloquial) κομπιουτεράκι (el) n (kompiouteráki) Hawaiian: mīkini helu Hebrew: מַחְשְׁבוֹן‎ (he) m (makhsh'vón) Hindi: परिकलक (pariklak), कैलकुलेटर m (kailkuleṭar), परिकलित्र m (pariklitra) Hungarian: számológép (hu) Icelandic: reiknivél f Ido: kalkulatoro Indonesian: kalkulator (id), mesin hitung (id) Irish: áireamhán m Italian: calcolatrice (it) f Japanese: 電卓 (ja) (でんたく, dentaku), 計算機 (ja) (けいさんき, keisanki) Kannada: ಲೆಕ್ಕರಣೆ (kn) (lekkaraṇe) Kazakh: калькулятор (kalkulätor) Khmer: គណិតចរ (kĕəʼnetaʼ cɑɑ) Korean: 계산기(計算機) (ko) (gyesan'gi) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: pêjimêrk (ku) Kyrgyz: калькулятор (ky) (kalʹkulyator) Lao: ຈັກຄິດໄລ່ (lo) (chak khit lai) Latvian: kalkulators m Lithuanian: kalkuliatorius (lt) m, skaičiuotuvas (lt) m Low German: Dutch Low Saxon: telmesiene, rekkenmesiene Macedonian: сметач m (smetač), дигитро́н m (digitrón), калкула́тор m (kalkulátor) Malagasy: mpikajy Malay: mesin kira, kalkulator, mesin kira Maltese: kalkulatur m, maqjes m Manx: co-earrooder m Mongolian: тооцоо гаргагч (toocoo gargagč) Norman: caltchuleux m Norwegian: Bokmål: kalkulator (no) m Nynorsk: kalkulator (no) m Pali: saṅkhyāna n Pashto: شمېرماشين‎ m (šmermāšín) Persian: ماشین حساب‎ (fa) (mâšin-e hesâb) Polish: kalkulator (pl) m Portuguese: calculadora (pt) f Romanian: calculator (ro), computer (ro) n Romansch: calculader m, calculatur m, calculatour m, quintader m, chintader m Russian: калькуля́тор (ru) m (kalʹkuljátor) Sanskrit: गणकयन्त्रम् (gaṇakayantram) Scottish Gaelic: àireamhair m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: рачунар m (Bosnian, Serbian), рачунало n (Croatian) Roman: računar (sh) m (Bosnian, Serbian), računalo (sh) n (Croatian) Slovak: kalkulačka f Slovene: kalkulator m, računalo Spanish: calculador (es) m or f, calculadora (es) f Swahili: kikokotozi Swedish: räknare (sv) c, miniräknare (sv) c, kalkylator (sv) c Tagalog: pantaya Tajik: мошини ҳисоб (mošini hisob), ҳисобгар (hisobgar), ҳисобкунак (hisobkunak) Tamil: கணிப்பான் (ta) (kaṇippāṉ) Telugu: గణికుడు (te) (gaṇikuḍu) Thai: เครื่องคิดเลข (th) (krʉ̂ʉang-kít-lêek) Tigrinya: መተሓሳሰቢ (mätäḥasasäbi) Turkish: hesap makinesi (tr) Turkmen: kalkulýator Udmurt: лыдъянтык (lydʺjantyk) Ukrainian: калькуля́тор m (kalʹkuljátor) Urdu: کیلکولیٹر‎ m (kailkuleṭar) Uyghur: ھېسابلىغۇچ‎ (hësablighuch) Uzbek: kalkulyator (uz) Vietnamese: máy tính cầm tay Welsh: cyfrifiannell (cy) f West Frisian: rekkenmasine, bûsrekkenmasine Yiddish: קאַלקולאַטאָר‎ m (kalkulator)

mechanical device that performs mathematical calculations

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܚܵܫܘܿܒ݂ܘܿܢܵܐ‎ m (ḳašowona) Bulgarian: сметачна машина f (smetačna mašina) Catalan: calculadora (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 計算器／计算器 (zh) (jìsuànqì), 計算機／计算机 (zh) (jìsuànjī) Dutch: rekenmachine (nl) f, calculator (nl) m Finnish: laskin (fi), laskukone (fi) Galician: calculadora f Greek: αριθμομηχανή (el) f (arithmomichaní) Hebrew: מונה‎ m (mone) Hungarian: számológép (hu) Ido: kalkulilo (io) Indonesian: kalkulator (id) Italian: calcolatrice (it) Macedonian: сметач m (smetač) Polish: kalkulator (pl) m Portuguese: calculadora (pt) f Romanian: calculator (ro), mașină de calculat Russian: вычисли́тельная маши́на f (vyčislítelʹnaja mašína), счётная маши́на f (sčótnaja mašína), арифмо́метр (ru) m (arifmómetr) Vietnamese: máy tính cơ khí, máy tính tương tự, dụng cụ tính toán

dated: a person who performs mathematical calculations

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܚܲܫܒܢܵܢܵܐ‎ m (ḳāšbnana), ܚܲܫܒܢܵܢܬܵܐ‎ f (ḳāšbnanta) Bulgarian: изчислител m (izčislitel) Chinese: Mandarin: 計算者／计算者 (jìsuànzhě) Dutch: berekenaar (nl) m Finnish: laskija (fi) Galician: calculador m Hebrew: חשבונאי‎ m (kheshbona'y), חשבונאית‎ f (kheshbona'yt) Hindi: परिकलक m (pariklak) Indonesian: penghitung Italian: calcolatore (it) m, calcolatrice (it) f Japanese: 計算者 (けいさんしゃ, keisansha) Khmer: អ្នកគិតលេខ (nĕək kɨt leek) Macedonian: сметач m (smetač) Manx: co-earrooder m Portuguese: calculador m, calculista (pt) Sanskrit: गुणक (sa) m (guṇaka) Romanian: calculator (ro) m, calculatoare (ro) f Russian: счётчик (ru) m (sčótčik), расчётчик (ru) m (rasčótčik) Ukrainian: лічба́р m (ličbár) Vietnamese: người tính

person who calculates (in the sense of scheming)

Chinese: Mandarin: 計算者／计算者 (jìsuànzhě) Dutch: planner (nl) m Finnish: laskelmoija, taulukko (fi) German: Rechner (de) m Portuguese: calculista (pt) m Vietnamese: người láu cá

set of mathematical tables

Chinese: Mandarin: 計算表／计算表 (zh) (jìsuànbiǎo) Finnish: laskuri (fi) French: tables f pl Hebrew: טבלת חישובים‎ f (t'avlat khishuvym) Italian: tabelle (it) f pl Japanese: 計算表 (けいさんひょう, keisannhyō) Romanian: tabele f pl Russian: табли́цы расчётов f pl (tablícy rasčótov), табли́ца (ru) f (tablíca) Vietnamese: máy tính dạng bảng

See also

• ready reckoner
• slide rule
• tables
• calculators on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

References

• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Calculator”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, pages 27–28, column 3.

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Cebuano

Etymology

From English calculator.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: cal‧cu‧la‧tor

Noun

calculator

1. calculator (device)

   Synonyms: calcu, kalkulador

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Latin

Etymology

From calculō (“I calculate”) +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kal.kuˈlaː.tor/, [käɫ̪kʊˈɫ̪äːt̪ɔr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kal.kuˈla.tor/, [kälkuˈläːt̪or]

Noun

calculātor m (genitive calculātōris, feminine calculātrīx); third declension

1. calculator, bookkeeper, accountant
2. computer, one versed in/teacher of arithmetic

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	calculātor	calculātōrēs
Genitive	calculātōris	calculātōrum
Dative	calculātōrī	calculātōribus
Accusative	calculātōrem	calculātōrēs
Ablative	calculātōre	calculātōribus
Vocative	calculātor	calculātōrēs

Synonyms

• calculātrīx

Verb

calculātor

1. second-person singular future passive imperative of calculō
   1. "thou shalt be calculated, thou shalt be computed"
   2. (figuratively) "thou shalt be considered as, thou shalt be esteemed"
2. third-person singular future passive imperative of calculō
   1. "it shall be calculated, it shall be computed"
   2. (figuratively) "she shall be considered as, she shall be esteemed"

References

• “calculator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• calculator in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• calculator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “calculator”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “calculator”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French calculateur; compare also English and Latin calculator. Equivalent to calcula +‎ -tor.

Noun

calculator n (plural calculatoare)

1. calculator (device)
2. computer

   Synonyms: computer, ordinator

Declension

Declension of calculator

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) calculator	calculatorul	(niște) calculatoare	calculatoarele
genitive/dative	(unui) calculator	calculatorului	(unor) calculatoare	calculatoarelor
vocative	calculatorule		calculatoarelor