compter

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmptə/

compter (plural compters)

1. (obsolete) A counter (token used for keeping count).
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale:

     Let me see: every 'leven wether tods, every tod yields pound and odd shilling; fifteen hundred shorn, what comes the wool to? […] I cannot do't without compters.

2. (historical) A prison attached to a city court; a counter.
   • 2003, John Hamilton Baker, The Oxford History of the Laws of England, Oxford University Press, page 284:

     Each sheriff had his own compter, which were both prisons and offices, administered by the respective secondaries.

Inherited from Middle French compter, conter, from Old French compter, conter, cunter, from Latin computāre. Doublet of conter and computer.

The learned spelling -mpt- was originally used interchangeably with the phonetic spelling -nt-. In modern French they have been split in such a way that the Latinizing form represents the sense “to count”, which was already present in Latin, while the native form represents the derived sense “to tell” (see conter).

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.te/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: comptai, compté, comptée, comptées, comptés, comptez, comté, comtés, contai, conté, contée, contées, conter, contés, contez

compter

1. (transitive, intransitive) to count
2. (transitive) to reckon, allow

   Pour se rendre jusque là, il faut compter deux bonnes heures. ― To get there, it takes two good hours.

3. (transitive) to include; to comprise, to consist of

   Je ne l’ai pas comptée dans le calcul. ― I did not include it in the calculation.

4. (transitive) to comprise, to consist of

   Une semaine compte 7 [sept] jours divisés en 24 [vingt-quatre] heures. ― A week consists of 7 days divided to 24 hours.

5. (intransitive) to matter

   La seule chose qui compte pour Jim, c’est d’être riche. ― The only thing that matters to Jim is being rich.

6. (catenative) to intend, plan

   Tu comptes partir à quelle heure ? ― At what time do you intend to leave?

7. to count on [with sur ‘someone’]

   Je compte sur toi ! ― I'm counting on you!

• compte
• conter

• “compter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

compter

1. Alternative form of countour

From Old French conter, respelled to reflect Latin computō, computāre.

compter

1. to recount; to tell

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

• compte

• French: compter, conter (separate verbs in modern French)