# calculate
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin calculātus, perfect passive participle of calculō (“to reckon, computem calculate”, originally by means of pebbles) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from calculus (“a pebble”), further from calx (“limestone”, calc- in compounds) +‎ -ulus (forms diminutives).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈkælkjʊleɪt/, /ˈkælkjəleɪt/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: cal‧cu‧late

### Verb

calculate (third-person singular simple present calculates, present participle calculating, simple past and past participle calculated)
* (transitive, mathematics) To determine the value of something or the solution to something by a mathematical process.
    Calculate the square root of 3 to 10 decimal places.
* (intransitive, mathematics) To determine values or solutions by a mathematical process; reckon.
* (intransitive, US, dialect) To plan; to expect; to think.
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal’lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
* To ascertain or predict by mathematical or astrological computations the time, circumstances, or other conditions of; to forecast or compute the character or consequences of.
    to calculate or cast one’s nativity
** 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:A cunning man did calculate my birth.
* To adjust for purpose; to adapt by forethought or calculation; to fit or prepare by the adaptation of means to an end.
    to calculate a system of laws for the government and protection of a free people
** 1671, John Tillotson, “Sermon IV. The Advantages of Religion to Particular Persons. Psalm XIX. 11.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], 8th edition, London: […] T. Goodwin, B[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton, […]; J. Round […], and J[acob] Tonson] […], published 1720, →OCLC:[Religion] is […] calculated for our benefit.
* (chess) To imagine sequences of potential moves and responses without actually moving the pieces.

#### Conjugation

$^†$ Archaic or obsolete.

#### Synonyms

* (determine value of or solution to): compute, reckon (old), work out
* (determine values or solutions): compute, reckon (old)

#### Derived terms

* backcalculate
* calculant
* calculatable
* calculated
* calculate out
* calculating
* calculative
* calculatory
* miscalculate
* outcalculate
* overcalculate
* precalculate
* recalculate
* retrocalculate
* uncalculatable
* undercalculate

#### Related terms

* calculation
* calculus
* calculator
* incalculable

#### Further reading

* “calculate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “calculate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “calculate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

## Latin
### Verb

calculāte
* second-person plural present active imperative of calculō
** "calculate ye, compute ye"
** (figuratively) "consider ye as, esteem ye"

### Participle

calculāte
* vocative masculine singular of calculātus

## Spanish
### Verb

calculate
* second-person singular voseo imperative of calcular combined with te