“Compute” basically means “to calculate,” most often using numbers or a computer.

Core meanings

  • Everyday math: To compute is to work something out using mathematical steps, like “compute the total cost” or “compute the area of a triangle.”
  • With computers: It can mean to calculate or process data using a computer, for example “computing pi to over a billion places.”
  • Informal speech: “That doesn’t compute” means “that doesn’t make sense” or “that doesn’t add up.”

In tech and “cloud compute”

In modern tech talk, especially cloud services, “compute” is also a noun: it refers to processing power and related resources (CPU, memory, sometimes storage and networking) that let programs run.

  • “Compute resources” = the CPU, RAM, GPUs, etc. that do the processing.
  • “Compute‑intensive app” = software that needs a lot of processing power (like 3D graphics or machine learning).
  • Cloud providers often talk about “compute instances” or “compute hours,” meaning virtual machines and the time you use their processing power.

On forums, people sometimes sum this up as: “compute” is the part of the system optimized for doing calculations and processing, as opposed to things like pure storage.

Quick example

  • If you compute your taxes by hand, you’re doing the math yourself.
  • If a data center provides “compute,” it’s renting you virtual CPUs and memory so your code can do those calculations for you.

TL;DR: “Compute” = to calculate (literally or figuratively), and in tech, the processing power that does those calculations.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.