Calculate
verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To determine the value of something or the solution to something by a mathematical process. transitive
"Calculate the square root of 3 to 10 decimal places."
- 2 make a mathematical calculation or computation wordnet
- 3 To determine values or solutions by a mathematical process; reckon. intransitive
- 4 judge to be probable wordnet
- 5 To plan; to expect; to think. US, dialectal, intransitive
"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."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 have faith or confidence in wordnet
- 7 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"
- 8 specifically design a product, event, or activity for a certain public wordnet
- 9 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"
- 10 predict in advance wordnet
- 11 To imagine sequences of potential moves and responses without actually moving the pieces.
- 12 keep an account of wordnet
Example
More examples"A computer can calculate very rapidly."
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin calculātus, perfect passive participle of calculō (“to reckon, compute, 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).
Related phrases
More for "calculate"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.