‖ comptoir
(kɔ̃twar)
[Fr., a counter, counting-house, office:—L. type *computātōrium, in med.L. a counting table, f. computātor reckoner.]
A commercial agency or factory (in a foreign country).
| 1722 Journ. thro' Eng. I. 231 At Amsterdam..and Venice, every particular Country have their several Comptoirs for Letters. 1808 A. Parsons Trav. xi. 227 Tellicherry, the only settlement belonging to the English East India Company on this coast..the other places being only comptoirs by permission of Hyder Ally. Ibid. 237 This is the only French settlement on this [side of] India, that at Surat..being only a comptoir. |