Computer word meanings dictionary

Other forms: computers

Unless you’re living in a cave cut off from humanity, you’ve seen these electronic machines with a screen, keyboard, and brain that stores massive amounts of information. Computers are ubiquitous in offices, airports, schools…even caves cut off from humanity.

Though computers are a thoroughly modern invention, the root word that gave them their name dates all the way back to Roman times. Tech geeks dreamed up computer by embellishing the English word compute, which means «to calculate.» Compute, in turn, comes from Latin com-, «with» and putare, «to reckon.» So, your computer is a device that helps you reckon — or think. It also comes in handy for email and every type of entertainment imaginable.

Definitions of computer

1. noun

   a machine for performing calculations automatically

   synonyms:

   computing device, computing machine, data processor, electronic computer, information processing system

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   types:

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   analog computer, analogue computer

   a computer that represents information by variable quantities (e.g., positions or voltages)

   digital computer

   a computer that represents information by numerical (binary) digits

   home computer

   a computer intended for use in the home

   client, guest, node

   (computer science) any computer that is hooked up to a computer network

   number cruncher

   a computer capable of performing a large number of mathematical operations per second

   pari-mutuel machine, totalisator, totaliser, totalizator, totalizer

   computer that registers bets and divides the total amount bet among those who won

   predictor

   a computer for controlling antiaircraft fire that computes the position of an aircraft at the instant of a shell’s arrival

   host, server

   (computer science) a computer that provides client stations with access to files and printers as shared resources to a computer network

   Turing machine

   a hypothetical computer with an infinitely long memory tape

   internet site, site, web site, website

   a computer connected to the internet that maintains a series of web pages on the World Wide Web

   bbs, bulletin board, bulletin board system, electronic bulletin board

   a computer that is running software that allows users to leave messages and access information of general interest

   differential analyzer

   an analog computer designed to solve differential equations

   file server

   (computer science) a digital computer that provides workstations on a network with controlled access to shared resources

   mainframe, mainframe computer

   a large digital computer serving 100-400 users and occupying a special air-conditioned room

   minicomputer

   a digital computer of medium size

   multiprocessor

   a computer that uses two or more processing units under integrated control

   PC, microcomputer, personal computer

   a small digital computer based on a microprocessor and designed to be used by one person at a time

   slide rule, slipstick

   analog computer consisting of a handheld instrument used for rapid calculations; have been replaced by pocket calculators

   von Neumann machine

   any digital computer incorporating the ideas of stored programs and serial counters that were proposed in 1946 by von Neumann and his colleagues

   workstation

   a desktop digital computer that is conventionally considered to be more powerful than a microcomputer

   chat room, chatroom

   a site on the internet where a number of users can communicate in real time (typically one dedicated to a particular topic)

   portal, portal site

   a site that the owner positions as an entrance to other sites on the internet

   type of:

   machine

   any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks

2. noun

   an expert at calculation (or at operating calculating machines)

A1 /e / symbol the hexadecimal equivalent of the decimal number 10

A2 /e / abbr ampere

A: used in some operating systems to denote the first disk drive on the system

Å abbr angstrom

abandon /ə b ndən/ verb to clear a document, file or work from a computer’s memory without saving it Once you have abandoned your spreadsheet, you cannot retrieve it again.

abb. add. abbr abbreviated addressing abbreviated address /ə bri vie tid ə

dres/ noun (in a network) a user name that has fewer characters than the full name, making it easier to remember or type in or faster to decode

abbreviated addressing /ə

bri vie tid ə dres ŋ/ noun the use of abbreviated addresses. Abbr abb. add.

abbreviated installation /ə

bri vie tid nstə le ʃ(ə)n/ noun the installing of new hardware or software without restoring the previous backup settings of the operating system

abbreviation /ə bri vi e ʃ(ə)n/ noun a short form of a word, command or instruction Within the text, the abbreviation proc is used instead of processor.

ABD abbr Apple Desktop Bus

abend / bend/ noun an unexpected stoppage of a program that is being run, caused by a fault, error or power failure

An interrupt from a faulty printer caused an abend. Also called abnormal end, ab-

normal termination

abend code / bend kəυd/ noun a special number, generated by the operating system, that identifies the type of error that has caused a particular problem

abend recovery program / bend rk v(ə)ri prəυ r m/ noun a piece of

software that will reload a program or system software and restart it at the point at which an abend occurred

aberration / bə re ʃ(ə)n/ noun 1. distortion of a light beam or image caused by defects in the optical system 2. distortion of a television picture caused by a corrupt signal or incorrect adjustment

ablation /ə ble ʃ(ə)n/ noun a method of writing data to an optical storage device in which a laser burns a hole or pit, representing digital bits of data, into the thin metal surface of the storage device

COMMENT: A laser burns a hole or pit (which represents digital bits of data) into the thin metal surface of the storage device.

abnormal end / b nɔ m(ə)l end/ noun same as abend

abnormal termination / b nɔ m(ə)lt m ne ʃ(ə)n/ noun same as abend

abort /ə bɔ t/ verb to end a process in the event of a malfunction occurs by switching the computer off manually or by an internal feature The program was aborted by pressing the red button.

aborted connection /ə bɔ t d kənekʃ(ə)n/ noun a connection to a net-

work or online service that has not been shut down correctly

abort sequence /ə bɔ t si kwəns/ noun a unique sequence of bits that indicates that the transmission will be terminated because of a fault, error or power failure

About… /ə baυt/ a menu selection in the SAA CUA front end that tells you who developed the program and gives copyright information

above-the-fold /ə b v ðə fəυld/ adjective referring to the part of a webpage that is seen by all users who call up the page, because they do not have to scroll down to read it. Compare below-the-fold

ABR / e bi ɑ / noun a service provided by an ATM network that tries to provide the bandwidth requested by a customer, though it cannot guarantee to do so. Full form available bit rate

AB roll / e bi rəυl/ noun (in a multimedia application) a sequence of two video or music segments that are synchronised so that one fades as the second starts ABS / e bi es/ noun a programming instruction that returns the magnitude of a number without the number’s sign The command ABS(-13) will return the answer 13. Full form absolute function absolute address / bsəlu t ə dres/ noun 1. a computer storage address that directly, without any modification, accesses a location or device Program execution is slightly faster if you code only with absolute addresses. Compare indexed address 2. a computer storage address that can only access one location also called actual address, machine address

absolute addressing / bsəlu t ədres ŋ/ noun the locating of a data word stored in memory by the use of its absolute address

absolute assembler / bsəlu t əsemblə/ noun a type of assembly lan-

guage program designed to produce code that uses only absolute addresses and values

absolute cell reference / bsəlu t sel ref(ə)rəns/ noun a spreadsheet reference that always refers to the same cell, even when copied to another location absolute code / bsəlu t kəυd/ noun binary code that directly operates the central processing unit, using only absolute addresses and values. Also called actual code, basic code

absolute coordinates / bsəlu t kəυ ɔ d nətz/ plural noun coordinates that describe the distance of a point from the intersection of axes

absolute device / bsəlu t d va s/ noun an input device such as a tablet or mouse that returns the coordinates of a pointer within specified axes

absolute error / bsəlu t erə/ noun the value or magnitude of an error, ignoring its sign

absolute expression / bsəlu t kspreʃ(ə)n/ noun (in assembly language)

the value of an expression that is not affected by program relocation

absolute function / bsəlu tf ŋkʃən/ noun full form of ABS

absolute instruction / bsəlu t nstr kʃən/ noun an instruction that com-

pletely describes the operation to be performed, requiring no other data absolute loader / bsəlu t ləυdə/ noun a program that loads a section of code into main memory

absolute maximum rating

/ bsəlu t m ks məm re t ŋ/ noun a statement of the maximum values or limits of a system

absolute positioning / bsəlu t pəz ʃ(ə)n ŋ/ noun the position of an object in relation to a point of origin

absolute priority / bsəlu t praɒr ti/ noun (in the OS/2 operating system) the priority of a process that cannot be changed by the operating system absolute program / bsəlu tprəυ r m/ noun a computer program written in absolute code

absolute time / bsəlu t ta m/ noun

(in CD-audio) the length of time that an audio disc has been playing

absolute value / bsəlu t v lju / noun the size or value of a number, regardless of its sign The absolute value of – 62.34 is 62.34.

absorb /əb zɔ b/ verb to take in light, liquid or a signal

absorptance /əb zɔ ptəns/ noun a measure of how completely an object or substance absorbs radiant energy. Opposite reflectance

absorption /əb zɔ pʃən/ noun the power loss of a signal when travelling through a medium, due to its absorptance abstract data type / bstr kt de təta p/ noun a general data type that can store any kind of information

A-bus /e b s/ noun the main internal bus in a microprocessor

ac abbr academic organisation (NOTE: used in email and website addresses)

AC abbr alternating current

ACAP / e si e pi / noun an email system developed to work with the IMAP4 email protocol to provide extra features such as management of an address book. Full form application configuration access protocol (NOTE: It was originally termed IMSP (Interactive Mail Support Protocol).)

ACC / e si si / noun the most important internal CPU storage register, containing the data word that is to be processed

Store the two bytes of data in registers A and B and execute the add instruction –

the answer will be in the ACC. Full form accumulator

accelerated graphics port /əkseləre t d r f ks pɔ t/ noun full

form of AGP

acceleration time /ək selə re ʃ(ə)n ta m/ noun 1. the time taken for a disk drive to spin a disk at the correct speed, from rest Allow for acceleration time in the access time. 2. the total time between an access instruction’s issue to a peripheral and the transfer of the data

accelerator board /ək selə re tə bɔ d/, accelerator card /ək selə re tə

kɑ d/ noun a circuit board that carries a faster or more advanced version of the same processor that runs your computer. Adding an accelerator board to your computer makes it run faster.

accelerator key /ək selə re tə ki / noun a key that, when pressed together with another, carries out a function that would otherwise have to be selected from a menu using a mouse Instead of selecting the File menu then the Save option, use the accelerator keys Alt and S to do the same thing and save the file.

accept /ək sept/ verb to establish a session or connection with another computing device

acceptable use policy /əkseptəb(ə)l ju z pɒl si/ noun a set of

rules that describe what a user can write or do on the Internet without offending other users. Abbr AUP

acceptance sampling /ək septənssɑ mpl ŋ/ noun the testing of a small random part of a batch to see if the whole batch is up to standard

acceptance test /ək septəns test/ noun a test to check that a piece of equipment will perform as required or will reach required standards

acceptance testing /ək septənstest ŋ/ noun the performing of an acceptance test

access / kses/ noun 1. the fact of being able to reach or use something to have access to the computer room 2. the fact of being allowed to use a computer and read or alter files stored in it. This is usually controlled by a security device such as a password. to deny access to refuse access to a circuit or system for reasons of workload or security verb to call up data which is stored in a computer

She accessed the employee’s file stored on the computer.

access arm / kses ɑ m/ noun a mechanical device in a disk drive used to position the read/write head over the correct track on a disk The access arm moves to the parking region during transport. access authority / kses ɔ θɒrəti/ noun permission to carry out a particular operation on data

access-barred / kses bɑ d/ adjective prevented from accessing particular data

access category / kses k tə (ə)ri/ noun a category that defines which files or data a user can access and which he or she cannot

access channel control / ksestʃ n(ə)l kən trəυl/ noun (in a Token-

Ring network) the set of protocols that manage the data transfer between a station and a medium access control

access charge / kses tʃɑ d’/ noun a cost due when logging onto a system or viewing special pages on a bulletin board access code / kses kəυd/ noun a series of characters or symbols that must be entered to identify a user before access to a computer is permitted

access control / kses kən trəυl/ noun a security device such as a password that only allows selected users to use a computer system or read files

access control byte / kses kəntrəυl ba t/ noun (in a Token-Ring net-

work) a byte following a start marker in the token that indicates if the station can access the network

access controller / kses kəntrəυlə/ noun (in CD-i) an electronic de-

vice that transfers image data to the video controller

access control list / kses kən trəυl l st/ noun full form of ACL

access counter / kses kaυntə/ noun counter

access head / kses hed/ noun the part of a disk drive that moves to the correct part of the disk’s surface and reads information stored on the disk

access hole / kses həυl/ noun an opening in both sides of a floppy disk’s casing allowing the read-write head to be positioned over the disk’s surface accession number /ək seʃ(ə)nn mbə/ noun a number in a record that

specifically

: a programmable usually electronic device that can store, retrieve, and process data

He works all day on a computer.

Recent Examples on the Web

An unchecked ransomware attack can worm its way through a victim’s computer networks, rendering its systems inert and grinding its operations to a halt.


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This character point seems designed specifically to validate the computer wizardry she’ll later be called upon to display.


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Similar to a phone booth, each clear enclosure includes a chair, a desk and a computer screen with headphones and microphone, where library patrons can walk in, close the door and listen and speak one of the 110 languages offered.


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Recent retail tenants include a computer store, an international courier service and the still-open Concord Party Shoppe.


—Jc Reindl, Detroit Free Press, 23 Mar. 2023




But several features indicate the images are computer-generated, according to Higgins.


—Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2023




In 1966, an MIT computer scientist named Joseph Weizenbaum developed a chatbot named ELIZA, who responded to users’ messages by following a script or rephrasing their questions.


—Tatum Hunter, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2023




Moez Draief is a computer scientist and the incoming managing director of Mozilla.ai.


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See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘computer.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of computer was
in 1613