calculate

Where does the word "calculate" come from? It comes from Latin calculus, and was adopted directly into English (1560s).

Calculate’s story begins in Latin: calculus meant “pebble.” 'a small stone', from calx 'limestone'; Romans reckoned with pebbles on a counting board, and a kidney stone is still a calculus in medicine. It reached English by 1560s as calculate. Via Late Latin calculare 'to reckon'; Newton and Leibniz later named their rival new mathematics 'calculus' in the late 1600s. Today, calculate means to work out an amount mathematically.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · classical calculus "pebble", 'a small stone', from calx 'limestone'; Romans reckoned with pebbles on a counting board, and a kidney stone is still a calculus in medicine.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1560s calculate "to compute", via Late Latin calculare 'to reckon'; Newton and Leibniz later named their rival new mathematics 'calculus' in the late 1600s.