computing

American  

[kuhm-pyoo-ting] / kəmˈpyu tɪŋ /

noun

1. the use of a computer to process data or perform calculations.

2. the act of calculating or reckoning.

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computing British  

/ kəmˈpjuːtɪŋ /

noun

1. the activity of using computers and writing programs for them

2. the study of computers and their implications

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adjective

1. of or relating to computers

   computing skills

Etymology

Origin of computing

First recorded in 1640–50; compute + -ing ¹

Explanation

Computing is the act of calculating something––adding it up, multiplying it, or doing more complex math functions to it. Computers are named for this process, because they can compute faster than most people. The verb compute comes from a Latin word for pruning. You can think of it like cleaning up piles of data to get a clear result. If you run a shop and have lots of figures, for items sold and returned, and money paid for salaries and overhead, then you'll have to do some computing to know how much money you actually earned that day. It's also a type of engineering.

Example Sentences

The quantum computing firm’s debut occurred amid a broader tech sector downturn and questions about AI spending.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

Tokenmaxxing refers to using as much computing as possible to be seen as AI-forward.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Losses should be mitigated by selling computing power to Anthropic and Google for $1.25 billion and $920 million a month, respectively.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

Analysts and executives drew parallels between the surge in AI costs and companies’ investments in cloud computing during the pandemic.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

“She’s a professor of advanced computing and mathematical sciences at Cal Tech. I hacked into her laptop so that it gave her a special greeting on her birthday.”

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Related Words

• bookkeeping