R: Computers (was Re: Stress marking)

Computers (was Re: Stress marking)Carlos Thompson wrote:

>>That's the problem! The poor English lang had to borrow educated terms
from Romance, and now we should reborrow the same  terms from English, when
*they* copied us? 'Computer', indeed, comes from Latin 'computator'
(calculator) via French (**Comput(at)eur?)
Well, I guess English derived _computer_ from the English verb _to compute_
which in turn comes from Latin (probably via French).  It uses English
suffix _-er_ like in _surf_ > _surfer_.
>>
Oh, well, you're obviously right, but the root is always Romance.

>>As for 'Calcolatore', it's a nomen agentis form the verb 'calcolare' (to
calculate, to count...). 'Computatore' would fit but, since the verb
'computare' has a more specific meaning (somehow tied to a boring act of
filling lines of code...), it wouldn't sound good to me.
Was that the meaning of _computare_ before computers?
>>
'Calculate, estimate directly or through attendible sources.'.

Luca