calculator

Definition

A mechanical or electronic device that performs mathematical calculations; sometimes, an electronic one specifically.

Etymology

In the sense of a person, from Middle English calkelatour (“mathematician, astrologer”), borrowed from Latin calculātor, equivalent to calculate + -or. The other meanings arose in Modern English.

Example Sentences

• "electronic calculator;   pocket calculator"
• "The calculator on a bookkeeper's desk in the 1950s was an adding machine with mechanical guts."
• "I told him to hand me a calculator and he jokingly placed an adding machine at my side."

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