analog computer

American  

noun

1. a computer that represents data by measurable quantities, as voltages or, formerly, the rotation of gears, in order to solve a problem, rather than by expressing the data as numbers.

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analog computer British  

noun

1. a mechanical, electrical, or electronic computer that performs arithmetical operations by using some variable physical quantity, such as mechanical movement or voltage, to represent numbers

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Etymology

Origin of analog computer

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50

Example Sentences

The game ran on an ancient analog computer and was played on a tiny oscilloscope screen about five inches in diameter.

From Literature

The bones are the latest prize from a treasure trove that has yielded bronze statues, marble sculptures and, most famously, the Antikythera mechanism, a clocklike device thought to be the world’s oldest analog computer.

From New York Times

Trained as an electrical engineer, in the 1920s he had invented a machine known as a differential analyzer: an analog computer whose digital offspring would dominate the information age.

From Literature

Some scholars describe the Antikythera Mechanism as the world’s first analog computer.

From Seattle Times

The boat sank, along with tons of treasure: coins, gold jewelry, dozens of large marble and bronze statues, and an extraordinary, bronze clockwork device now counted as the first analog computer.

From Scientific American