computer
com·put·er/kəmˈpjuː.tə/noun, verb
computer is spelled C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R, 3 syllables: com·put·er. The wrong spelling people search most is coputer: about 70 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 667 of all searches for the word. Computer is a noun meaning “A programmable electronic device that performs mathematical calculations and logical operations, especially…”. The plural of computer is computers.
How many letters and syllables are in computer?
| Letters | 8: C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: com·put·er |
| In writing | 93 times per million words; the 1,144th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, coputer, about 70 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell computer?
Computer is spelled C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 567 of the searches for computer in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is computer?
Computer appears 93 times per million words in written English, the 1,144th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce computer?
- UK /kəmˈpjuː.tə/
- British /kəmˈpjʉw.tə/
- /kəmˈpɪʊtə/
Computer has 3 syllables, split com·put·er in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-computer.ogg, En-us-computer.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with computer?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as computer from its last stressed vowel (/utə/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of computer
- computers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- computering participle, present
- computered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does computer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A programmable electronic device that performs mathematical calculations and logical operations, especially one that can process, store and retrieve large amounts of data very quickly; now especially, a small one for personal or home use employed for manipulating text or graphics, accessing the Internet, or playing games or media.
Meronyms: processor, microprocessor, CPU
- 2
A person employed to perform computations; one who computes.
- 3
A male computer.
Coordinate term: (female) computress
verb
- 1
nonstandardrareTo use a computer.
- 2
nonstandardrareTo send via computer.
- 3
nonstandardrareTo transfer onto a computer; to computerize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate computer?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of computer: puter.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Computer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ordinateur |
| German | Computer, Rechner |
| Portuguese | computador, calculador , calculista |
| Spanish | computador, computadora, ordenador , calculador |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does computer come from?
From compute + -er. Doublet of cantore, counter, and kontor. The sense referring to people first appears c. 1613 in the works of the poet Richard Brathwait. The sense referring to a machine first appears c. 1897 in the magazine Engineering.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).