calculator

American  

[kal-kyuh-ley-ter] / ˈkæl kjəˌleɪ tər /

noun

• calculators
  plural

1. a person who calculates or computes.

2. Also called calculating machine.  a small electronic or mechanical device that performs calculations, requiring manual action for each individual operation.

3. a person who operates such a machine.

4. a set of tables that facilitates calculation.

---

calculator British  

/ ˈkælkjʊˌleɪtə /

noun

1. a device for performing mathematical calculations, esp an electronic device that can be held in the hand

2. a person or thing that calculates

3. a set of tables used as an aid to calculations

---

calculator Cultural  

1. An electronic device for performing automatic mathematical computations, usually controlled by a keyboard. Some are actually small computers, with limited memory, that allow the user to use simple programs.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• minicalculator
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• calculators
  plural

Etymology

Origin of calculator

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin; see calculate, -tor

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calculator calculators

"It's not quite the same as a calculator," he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

If you use a simple savings-distribution calculator, which computes spending withdrawals at the same time as balance growth, you could comfortably spend about $250,000 a year for the next 10 years and still have excess.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

One student-loan calculator estimated monthly payments could be $900.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Researchers expect the calculator to be used alongside cardiovascular risk assessment tools such as QRISK.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026

She was going to the market with Obiora, who she said figured out change faster than a trader with a calculator.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Electronic calculators, for instance, may have helped users solve equations -- but left the method and reasoning process in human hands.

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

The Roth conversion calculators in these financial-planning programs are designed to model and quantify the analysis to tell you whether you will end up paying more tax now or more tax later.

From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026

The advocates were generally happy with what they heard, while also pulling out calculators to assess whether Newsom owes still more to education.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

The new machine could do tasks about 1,000 times as fast as the electromechanical calculators that preceded it, but it was unwieldy, to say the least.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

Martha stood up on a platform at the adding machine show, and answered the problems quicker than the calculators could operate.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey