Computerized

How to spell computerized

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce computerized

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does computerized mean?

1. verbConverted to operate by, or stored and processed using, a computer.

Computerized in a sentence

• The company finally computerized its entire payroll system last spring.

• The hospital keeps every patient record in a computerized database now.

Where does computerized come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word builds on 'compute', which descends from the Latin verb computare, meaning 'to count up' or 'to reckon', formed from com- ('together') and putare ('to reckon, to think, to prune'). By the seventeenth century English had 'computer' as a noun for a person who carried out calculations, and only in the twentieth century did it settle on the electronic machine. From the machine came the verb 'computerize', meaning to convert a task or system to control by computer, with the suffix -ize coming ultimately from the Greek -izein, which forms verbs of action. The form spelled with a 'z' reflects that Greek-derived ending and is standard in American and Canadian usage. The same putare root that gives us the silent middle of 'compute' also survives in 'dispute', 'repute', and 'amputate', a useful reminder that the heart of the word is a verb about reckoning.

How the word is built

• compute (from Latin computare: to reckon)
• -er (agent/device noun)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix)
• -ed (past tense/participle)

British and American spelling

Computerized is the American spelling. British English spells it computerised.