Computer
Computer is, as might be expected, derived from the verb compute. The word computer was first used for an electronic calculating machine in the mid-1940’s (when they were invented — ENIAC, 1944, is usually considered the first, depending on how exactly “electronic computer” is defined). Computer was first used for a mechanical calculating machine in the 1890’s; and its first use referring to a human being is documented from 1646.
The verb compute is from French computer, which in turn derived from Latin computare, which meant “to add up.” Computare is derived from com-, “with” (also found in communicate and complicit and commerce and…) plus the Latin verb putare, “reckon, figure, calculate, think, consider”. Earlier, putare originally meant “prune”, i.e. “cut away”; it’s found in deputy, putative, dispute, and others. Putare descends from Proto Indo European pau, “cut, strike, stamp”, also the ancestor of pave and pit (i.e. “hole”).
The primary stressed syllable of computer is “put”, pronounced “pyoot”, and it shares a basic phonosemantics with put, pat, pit, pet... The idea of setting something that was in one spot or state (”p”) into motion, on a new path (”t”). The vowel shows the quality of the energy involved. In the case of “pyoot”, there is a dipthong — the energy starts out high and strong, with endurance (long “e”) and transforms into a fast-moving, go-with-the-flow, rounded energy (long “u”). The vowels thus encode the ideas of speed and endurance — things that computers are known for. The initial syallable, “com”, overall indicates something that comes out of an enclosure and generates a new manifestation. The idea of “with” (which the prefix “com” usually denotes) fits in the sense of an entity coming out of a former state and making a new entity by joining another. In the case of computer, the fact that they are dependent on humans to do their work, and the human and machine together act in concert in a new way, is a neat fit with the phonosemantics. The final syllable, “er”, is the same agentive suffix found in farmer and driver and so forth, and indicates the great energy available to and generated by the agent — in this case, the human and machine acting in concert.
To illustrate the point: the first picture below was generated by my landscape rendering program, Terragen, without any input from me (i.e. using all default settings — which of course were also set by humans, but set that aside). The second was generated by me using Microsoft Paint (also a computer program, but at least I’m manually moving the mouse…). The third was made by me and Terragen together.
(–Okay– I didn’t put a whole lot of effort into the second picture. But it was a lot more effort than I put into the third picture.)
Thanks to Nio for suggesting this word of the day.
