desktop

[desk-top] /ˈdɛskˌtɒp/

adjective

small or compact enough to fit or be used on a desk:

a desktop calendar.

noun

the surface of a desk.

Computers.

Also called desktop computer. a computer that is not portable, often consisting of a CPU, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Compare laptop.
the primary display screen of a graphical user interface, on which various icons represent files, groups of files, programs, or the like, which can be moved, accessed, added to, put away, or thrown away in ways analogous to the handling of file folders, documents, notes, etc., on a real desk.

Origin of desktop

1925-30; desk + top¹

Examples from the web for desktop computer

A series of devices—phone, tablet, laptop computer, desktop computer, TV—can fetch any of that content from the cloud.

Can Microsoft Come Back? Dan Lyons’s Month Without Apple and Google Dan Lyons April 8, 2012

British Dictionary definitions for desktop computer

desktop

/ˈdɛskˌtɒp/

noun

the main screen display on a personal computer, from which windows may be opened and programs run

(modifier) denoting a computer system, esp for word processing, that is small enough to use at a desk

Word Origin and History for desktop computer

desktop

1929, from desk + top. As an adjective meaning "suitable for use on a desktop," it is recorded from 1958 (in reference to computers). As a shortening of desktop computer, recorded from 1983. Desktop publishing recorded from 1984.