Etymograph

English

compute

Compute comes from French computer ‘to compute’, from Latin putō ‘to clean, cleanse’, and ultimately from putus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputus1
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputō1‘to clean, cleanse’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomputō1‘calculate, compute’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomputāre1
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentcomputer1‘to compute’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1667compute1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English compute
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VI: “Effulgence of my Glorie, Son belov’d, / Son in…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputusWiktionary, English compute
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputōWiktionary, English compute‘to clean, cleanse’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomputōWiktionary, English compute‘calculate, compute’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomputāreWiktionary, English compute
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentcomputerWiktionary, English compute‘to compute’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1667computeWiktionary, English compute. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VI: “Effulgence of my Glorie, Son belov’d, / Son in…”

Linked words

through Latin putus

puta, 9 more

through Latin putō ‘to clean, cleanse’

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

through Latin computō ‘calculate, compute’

account, count, raconteur, 4 more

Today it means

verb To reckon, calculate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “compute”. 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 / compute

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