"computress" meaning in English

See computress in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: computresses [plural]
Etymology: computer + -ess Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|computer|ess}} computer + -ess Head templates: {{en-noun}} computress (plural computresses)
  1. (obsolete, uncommon) female equivalent of computer (a person employed to perform computations; one who computes) Tags: feminine, form-of, obsolete, uncommon Form of: computer (extra: a person employed to perform computations; one who computes)
    Sense id: en-computress-en-noun-YXTgaQDH Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ess

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for computress meaning in English (3.5kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "computer",
        "3": "ess"
      },
      "expansion": "computer + -ess",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "computer + -ess",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "computresses",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "computress (plural computresses)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ess",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1962, The Volta Review, →ISSN, page 395",
          "text": "Picture a girl, we usually call her a computress, using a desk calculator. Suppose we had given her a sheet of paper containing several columns of numbers and suppose further we had given her a set of written instructions directing her to sum each column of numbers and then to divide each sum by the number of entries in its column so as to find the average of each column, and finally to enter this value below the appropriate column. Notice that the computress in this task performs […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1963, Paul L. Garvin, editor, Natural Language and the Computer, New York: McGraw-Hill, page 233",
          "text": "Programming can be considered as being similar to writing instructions for a girl who is working with a desk calculator. The analogy becomes exact if you assume that such a computress has the virtues of being very quick, of never making mistakes, and following instructions perfectly—and that she has the glaring defect of being incapable of thinking.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1963, Lloyd S. Shapley, Solutions of Compound Simple Games, Rand Corporation, page 14",
          "text": "Compare this with today when a programmer performs the task once for all and the computress performs a single-hand computation which is sufficient for all. Then our computers, large willing slaves, unerringly and without complaint produce all the answers you are willing to pay for.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1984, M. D. Fagen, G. E. Schindler, editors, A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System […], volume 5, Bell Telephone Laboratories, page 367",
          "text": "When they began using computers, their classification changed from computress to the more esteemed title of programmer. Computing expertise diffused throughout the company wherever it was needed. This arrangement, which differed markedly from what evolved in most commercial establishments, and even in some other research labs, sprang directly from the historically collaborative environment of Bell Labs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[2019, Karin Hilck, Lady Astronauts, Lady Engineers, and Naked Ladies […], Walter de Gruyter, page 249",
          "text": "The female computers worked in a separate lab, or at least in a separated part of the room. […] During their rare exchanges, though, the men often referred to them as ‘computresses.’]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "extra": "a person employed to perform computations; one who computes",
          "word": "computer"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "female equivalent of computer (a person employed to perform computations; one who computes)"
      ],
      "id": "en-computress-en-noun-YXTgaQDH",
      "links": [
        [
          "computer",
          "computer#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete, uncommon) female equivalent of computer (a person employed to perform computations; one who computes)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "form-of",
        "obsolete",
        "uncommon"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "computress"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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      "expansion": "computer + -ess",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "computer + -ess",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "computresses",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "computress (plural computresses)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English female equivalent nouns",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms suffixed with -ess",
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with uncommon senses"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1962, The Volta Review, →ISSN, page 395",
          "text": "Picture a girl, we usually call her a computress, using a desk calculator. Suppose we had given her a sheet of paper containing several columns of numbers and suppose further we had given her a set of written instructions directing her to sum each column of numbers and then to divide each sum by the number of entries in its column so as to find the average of each column, and finally to enter this value below the appropriate column. Notice that the computress in this task performs […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1963, Paul L. Garvin, editor, Natural Language and the Computer, New York: McGraw-Hill, page 233",
          "text": "Programming can be considered as being similar to writing instructions for a girl who is working with a desk calculator. The analogy becomes exact if you assume that such a computress has the virtues of being very quick, of never making mistakes, and following instructions perfectly—and that she has the glaring defect of being incapable of thinking.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1963, Lloyd S. Shapley, Solutions of Compound Simple Games, Rand Corporation, page 14",
          "text": "Compare this with today when a programmer performs the task once for all and the computress performs a single-hand computation which is sufficient for all. Then our computers, large willing slaves, unerringly and without complaint produce all the answers you are willing to pay for.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1984, M. D. Fagen, G. E. Schindler, editors, A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System […], volume 5, Bell Telephone Laboratories, page 367",
          "text": "When they began using computers, their classification changed from computress to the more esteemed title of programmer. Computing expertise diffused throughout the company wherever it was needed. This arrangement, which differed markedly from what evolved in most commercial establishments, and even in some other research labs, sprang directly from the historically collaborative environment of Bell Labs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[2019, Karin Hilck, Lady Astronauts, Lady Engineers, and Naked Ladies […], Walter de Gruyter, page 249",
          "text": "The female computers worked in a separate lab, or at least in a separated part of the room. […] During their rare exchanges, though, the men often referred to them as ‘computresses.’]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "extra": "a person employed to perform computations; one who computes",
          "word": "computer"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "female equivalent of computer (a person employed to perform computations; one who computes)"
      ],
      "links": [
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          "computer#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete, uncommon) female equivalent of computer (a person employed to perform computations; one who computes)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "form-of",
        "obsolete",
        "uncommon"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "computress"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (1d5a7d1 and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.