Etymograph

English

computation

Computation comes from Latin computatiō ‘calculation, reckoning, computation’, and goes back to putus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputus1
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputō1‘to reckon’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomputō2as computare‘sum up, reckon, compute’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomputatiō2‘calculation, reckoning, computation’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600computation2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500computacioun2‘Computation, calculation’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1834computation2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin computo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English computation
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “As there are some naturally deficient in the power…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputusWiktionary, Latin computo
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputōWiktionary, Latin computo‘to reckon’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomputōWiktionary, English computationas computare‘sum up, reckon, compute’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomputatiōWiktionary, English computation‘calculation, reckoning, computation’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600computationWiktionary, English computation
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500computaciounWiktionary, English computation‘Computation, calculation’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1834computationWiktionary, English computation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “As there are some naturally deficient in the power…”

Formed from compute + -ation

Latin putus

Latin putō ‘to clean, cleanse’

Latin computō ‘calculate, compute’

Latin computāre

French computer ‘to compute’

English compute

Linked words

through Latin putus

puta, 9 more

through Latin putō ‘to reckon’

counter, discount, dispute, imp, indisputable, repute, amputee, indisputably, putative, countable, amputation, depute, amputate, disputable, imputation, disputation, 8 more

through Latin computō ‘sum up, reckon, compute’

account, count, raconteur, 4 more

Today it means

noun The act or process of computing; calculation; reckoning.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “computation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin computo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin putus / computation

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