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Re: When did 'compute' become a noun, and 'x' become a word?
Subject:Re: When did 'compute' become a noun, and 'x' become a word? From:Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> To:salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com Date:Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:57:34 -0700
From the 1997 OED (first definition only)
compute, v.
(kÉmËpjuËt)
[a. F. compute-r (16th c. in LittrÃ), ad. L. computÄ-re to reckon, sum up,
f. com- together + putÄre to clear up, settle, reckon.]
1.1 trans. To estimate or determine by arithmetical or mathematical
reckoning; to calculate, reckon, count.
1631 Gouge God's Arrows iii. Â71. 315 They compute their numbers, as the
GrÃcians do, by letters. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 685 Two dayes, as we
compute the dayes of Heav'n. 1672 P. Henry Diary & Lett. (1882) 254 His
loss is generally computed to near 400 lb. 1776 Gibbon Decline & F. I.
xvii. 434 Its most ordinary breadth may be computed at about one mile and a
half. 1831 Brewster Optics vi. 58 The radii of curvature for these
lenses, as computed by Mr. Herschel. 1833 H. Coleridge North. Worthies
Introd. Ess. (1852) 17 To compute the comparative duration of life in
different periods.
On Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 3:29 PM, Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> FWIW,* compute* isn't even listed in the index of the *M$ Manual of Style*,
> 4th edition.
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