Spanish Word of the Day: Ordenador (computer)

The European Spanish word for computer is ordenador. It was taken directly from the French word ordinateur, which in turn was coined in 1955 by the French branch of IBM. It is said that François Girard, the head of the advertising department at IBM France, felt that the English word computer was too similar to calculatrice (calculator) and wanted to find a more suitable name for it. (Source: Transparent Language)

Did you know that the Latin American word for computer is actually computadora? While this feminine noun is preferred across most of Latin America, you will also hear the masculine form computador in Chile and Colombia. Ordenador, on the other hand, is predominantly used in Spain.

Ordenador is a masculine noun, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles:

• el ordenador = the computer
• los ordenadores = the computers
• un ordenador = a computer
• unos ordenadores = some computers

When computer is used as an adjective rather than a noun, you need to use the following expressions, which literally mean of (the) computer:

• del / de ordenador
• de la / de computadora
• del / de computador

So, for example, a computer screen would be known as pantalla del ordenador / de la computadora / del computador whereas computer desk would be mesa de ordenador / mesa de computadora / de computador.

You may also hear the expression de la computación (of computing) for terms such as computer scientist (científico de la computación) or computer science (ciencias de la computación), as well as the adjective informático/a as in técnico informático (computer technician).

Here are a few important terms related to the world of computers in Spanish:

When computers were still new to households, most families had just one desktop computer, referred to as ordenador de sobremesa (desktop computer) in European Spanish or computadora de escritorio in Latin America, to share among everyone.

Today, many people own their own laptop, which is also called a laptop in Spanish. Alternatively you can call it a portátil, which is the short form of ordenador / computadora portátil.