- calculate
- calculate, compute, estimate, reckon mean to determine something (as cost, speed, or quantity) by mathematical and especially arithmetical processes.Calculate is usually preferred when highly advanced, intricate, or elaborate processes are followed with precision and care and when the result arrived at is not readily proven by a physical confirmation (as by measuring or enumerating){
calculate the distance between the sun and the earth
}{calculate the number of atoms in a cubic centimeter of hydrogen
}Compute is preferred where the data are given or the actual figures involved are known and at hand and not arrived at indirectly; it therefore commonly implies the use of simple though often lengthy arithmetical processes{compute the interest due
}{compute the cost of running a business during a given year
}Estimate carries so strong an implication from its more common sense (see ESTIMATE) of an evaluation based on one's experience and good judgment that even when it implies careful calculation or computation it still connotes a result that is not necessarily exact but approximates the exact result; for he who estimates deals with data or figures that are to some extent unsatisfactory. Hence estimate is preferred to calculate and compute when the cost of a piece of work to be done is computed at present prices{a contractor's bid on a projected building is based on its estimated cost to him
}{a printer estimates a printing job when he names the price he will probably ask for doing it
}Reckon is used in place of compute and usually connotes simpler mathematical processes especially such as can be carried on in one's head or aided by the use of counters{reckon the cost of a trip to the city
}{reckon the number of eggs laid by the hens during the month
}Contrasted words: guess, *conjecture, surmise
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
