calculator

Word family

• calculate
  verbB1
• calculation
  nounB1
• calculus
  nounC1
• calculated
  adjectiveB2
• calculating
  adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A calculator is a dedicated electronic or digital device (or software tool) for performing mathematical calculations quickly. In contrast, an adding machine is a mechanical office device from the early to mid-20th century that only adds and prints totals on paper; it is rarely used today. An abacus is a much older manual counting frame of beads on rods, used mainly for teaching or in some Asian markets. A computer can do everything a calculator can and much more, but a computer is a general-purpose machine, while a calculator is designed specifically for number work. For everyday arithmetic — balancing a cheque or checking a restaurant bill — a calculator is faster and simpler than a computer and far more practical than an abacus.

Common collocations

Etymology

The word 'calculator' comes from the Latin verb 'calculare', meaning 'to count or reckon', which itself comes from 'calculus', a small stone used in counting on an abacus. The English word was first used in the late 1300s for a person who calculates (a reckoner), and by the mid-1900s it came to mean the electronic machine we know today.