Computational

How to spell computational

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce computational

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does computational mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to calculation, especially the use of computers or mathematical processing.

Computational in a sentence

• The new climate model demands enormous computational power.

• She specialises in computational biology, applying algorithms to genetic data.

Where does computational come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adjective traces back to the Latin verb computare, which meant 'to reckon up' or 'to calculate', formed from com- 'together' and putare 'to reckon, think, or prune'. The same putare root, with its sense of working a figure out in the mind, also gives us 'dispute', 'reputation', and 'amputate'. Latin computare passed into English through the noun 'computation' in the late 1300s, used for the act of reckoning numbers long before any machine existed. The verb 'compute' followed, and once mechanical and then electronic calculators arrived, the family naturally produced 'computer' and the modern adjective 'computational'. The spelling preserves the full noun 'computation' with the -al suffix simply added, so remembering the steady chain compute, computation, computational keeps the unstressed middle vowels in their proper place.

How the word is built

• com- (together)
• put (from Latin putare: to reckon, calculate)
• -ation (noun-forming)
• -al (adjective-forming)