▪ I. count, n.1
(kaʊnt)
Forms: 4–6 counte, 5 cownte, 7 cownt, 5– count. Also β. 5–6 compte, (6 coumpte, Sc. comp), 5–9 compt.
[ME. counte, a. OF. conte, cunte = It. conto:—late L. computum calculation, reckoning, f. computāre to calculate, reckon: see next. The spelling of the F. was refashioned in 14th c., after L., as compte, and this form became frequent also in Eng. from the 15th to the 17th c.]
1. a. The action or process of counting; a calculation, computation, reckoning.
out of count: beyond calculation, countless, incalculable. to put one out of count: i.e. out of one's reckoning. to keep count: to keep up the reckoning of a series of things; so to lose count.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 136 To þe houses of Chartres tuo þousand mark bi counte. a 1400–50 Alexander 3614 Mare þan a stanecast at a count be-fore his kniȝtis all. 1530 Palsgr. 209/2 Count, a rekenning, compte. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 62 Infinite..because..out of all count. 1609 Bible (Douay) II. 1093 About this time..the count of seventie wekes begane, according to the prophecie of Daniel. 1658 W. Burton Itin. Anton. 31 The count of all their Journeys through all Italy, beginning at it [the Milliarium aureum]. 1768 in Wesley's Jrnl. 25 May, So many..that they are out of count. Mod. One box of voting papers was omitted, and a second count will be necessary. I kept count of the meteors till midnight, when they became so numerous that I lost count of them entirely. |
| β c 1400 Rom. Rose 5029 Ther nys compte ne mesure. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) P v b, I demaunded then to haue a compte of the people. a 1639 Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. i. (1677) 13 Contrary to the Paschal compts, and Synodal Decrees of the Bishops. 1830 Tennyson Poems 109 Thou hast no compt of years. |
b. count-out: the action of ‘counting out’ the House of Commons, or causing its adjournment, when there are fewer than forty members present: see count v. 1 c. Also simply count.
| 1862 Sat. Rev. 18 Feb. 153 At one time there was imminent risk that the Address of condolence would evaporate in a count-out. 1892 Ibid. 19 Mar. 315 The evening sitting succumbed to a count at ten o'clock. |
c. Boxing. The counting aloud by the referee of ten seconds, the limit of time allowed to a fallen boxer to rise and resume the contest, or accept defeat; also, a specified period of less than ten seconds before a boxer rises to resume the contest. Esp. in to take the (full) count, to be knocked down for such a period; to be defeated; out for the count, unable to rise from the canvas for at least ten seconds; defeated. Also transf. and fig.
| 1902 H. L. Wilson Spenders 86 It rattled me so I had to take the full count. 1913 Chums 15 Mar. 498/2 The count was being shouted... Roy leaped to the centre of the ring before the count was finished. Ibid. 24 May 667/2 ‘I nearly took the count that time, old fellow,’ he said. 1922 R. Parrish Case & Girl 322 West went down for the count, lying motionless on the floor. 1929 Evening News 18 Nov. 16/5 The Walthamstow boxer was floored for a long count, and his seconds wisely threw in his towel. 1930 F. Yeats-Brown Bengal Lancer xii. 173 Now that Nur-ud-din is within punching distance, he'll put him out for the count. 1932 Kipling Limits & Renewals 142 Was my Demon going to lay the hot coal of inspiration on Lettcombe's unshorn lips—not on mine? But I would allow him the count fairly, and I began, ‘One—Two—Three.’ 1933 Wodehouse Mulliner Nights vii. 242 There are some speeches before which dignity melts like ice in August, resentment takes the full count. 1947 D. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 204 With the Jerries rocking on their heels the way they were the odds were they'd have taken the count before he got back. 1953 A. Baron Human Kind xxiv. 179 We won't be safe till we've put them out for the count. 1965 M. Golesworthy Encycl. Boxing (ed. 3) 62/1 After World War II..the audible count was adopted. |
2. a. The numerical result of reckoning; the number reckoned up, the reckoning; the sum total.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 197/3 They moche doubted that they shold not fynde theyr counte ne tale. 1570 Turberv. Disprayse of Woman (R.), Let Creside be in compt and number of the mo. a 1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xxvii. 103 Among the bed-roll of sinnes..Perjury is one of the count. a 1745 Swift Wks. (1841) II. 121 Which..will by a gross computation, very near double the count. 1832 Tennyson Dream Fair Women 201 Heaven heads the count of crimes with that wild oath. |
b. In the measurement of yarns: The number of hanks contained in a pound-weight. Also, the standard of fineness of yarn.
| 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 97/1 (Cotton-spinning) It will be seen that the price of the same count [of yarn] is greater for water twist than for mule twist. 1877 Daily News 22 Oct. 6/7 According to the present scale, a man who spins fine counts earns much higher wages than the man who spins coarse counts, though the work..sometimes requires equal skill and diligence. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 209/1 Yarns are designated according to the count, or number of hanks of 840 yards, in each pound weight. 1927 T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk 35 The threads have to conform to well-established methods and rules of distinguishing the relation between the length and weight of different yarns, or, briefly, to spin to fixed ‘counts’ or ‘numbers’ termed deniers. 1934 Planning I. xix. 4 Different counts and types of yarn. 1963 A. J. Hall Textile Sci. iii. 134 In the case of real silk and man-made fibre yarns the term denier is usually employed instead of count. |
c. A number, which is the sum of the wires across a card sheet, used to designate the fineness of pitch of the wire teeth used in carding operations.
| 1884 W. S. B. Maclaren Spinning ix. 211 The cards are not ordered by the number of the wire but by counts and crowns. |
d. Nuclear Physics. The recording of one or more ionizing events; an ionizing event so recorded. See also background count s.v. background n. 4, and count-rate below.
| 1921 Phil. Mag. XLII. 924 With the above system, H particles..could be counted with certainty under good conditions of experiment. The counts of both observers were found to be consistent over an interval of some months. 1930 Physical Rev. XXXV. 651/1 One out of 200 (residual) counts (a practical figure) in each individual tube-counter will be accidentally ‘coincident’. 1946 Korff Electron & Nuclear Counters iv. 82 The electron which is thus freed will start a new avalanche and produce a new count. 1958 O. R. Frisch et al. Nucl. Handbk. iv. 32 The date given by the radiocarbon count agreed with that ascribed by the archaeologists. |
3. A reckoning as to money or property; a statement of moneys received and expended (esp. by a steward or treasurer); = account n. 2.
| a 1325 Song Poor Husbandm. in Pol. Songs (Camden) 152 Thus y kippe ant cacche cares ful colde, Seththe y counte ant cot hade to kepe. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles 27 Whane the countis were caste. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxv. 137 Jaques Dartuell had..assembled all the reuenewes of Flaunders, without any count gyuen. 1628 Rutherford Lett. iii. (1862) I. 42 The count of sin ye will not be able to make good before God, except Christ both count and pay for you. 1869 Act 32–3 Vict. c. 116 §7 The grantee being always bound..to hold count and reckoning with the grantor for the same. |
| β c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxiv. 33 Ðe nest compt, þat þat Schyrrawe þare Suld gyue. a 1575 Abp. Parker Corr. 476 In time of visitation and examining the comptes. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. vi. 26 Your Seruants euer, Haue..what is theirs in compt, To make their Audit at your Highnesse pleasure. 1610 Histrio-m. iii. 240 Look, Steward, to your compt. a 1764 Lloyd Fam. Ep. Wks. 1774 II. 62 Robert joins compts with Burnam Black. |
4. fig. Account of stewardship, answering for conduct, reckoning; = account n. 8. arch.
| 1483 Caxton Cato A iv b, To the ende that thou mayst gyue counte whan thou shalt be required. 1552 Lyndesay Tragedie 304 Ȝe sall be callit to ȝour count Off euerilk thyng belanging to ȝour curis. 1598 Yong Diana 169, I doe wish, that Loue may take A narrow count of thee heere⁓after. 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. ii. vi, Till I shall render Count of the precious charge. |
| β 1508 Fisher Wks. (1876) 179 Yf the clergy lyue..in maner as they shold gyue no compte of theyr lyf past. 1556 Lauder Dewtie of Kyngis 47 Kyngs sall geue ane compt tharefore In presens of the kyng of glore. 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 273 When we shall meete at compt, This looke of thine will hurle my Soule from Heauen. 1861 Ld. Lytton & J. Fane Tannhäuser 66 Oh, if it be against high Heaven, to Heaven Remit the compt! |
5. a. Estimation, esteem, consideration; b. The act or way of estimating or regarding; estimate, regard, notice, note; = account n. 11–14; esp. in phr. to take, make, set (no) count of (upon, by). arch.
| 1475 Bk. Noblesse 31 They set no count ne prise of it. 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1239/1 Though in the compt of the world it seme to come by chaunce of warre. 1555 Fardle Facions i. vi. 100 Thei..make compte of their wiues and their children in commune. 1570 R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 82 They make no counte of generall councels. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. x. 18 Some other, that in hard assaies Were cowards knowne, and little count did hold. 1647 [see sense 6]. 1823 Lamb Elia (1860) 45 In proportion as the years both lessen and shorten, I set more count upon their periods. 1833 Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound Poems 1850 I. 150 Of miserable men, he took no count. 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. III. iv. xiv. §37 It has missed count of exactly the most important fact. 1884 Times (Weekly ed.) 10 Oct. 2/2 Ireland may be left out of count. |
| β 1484 Caxton Curiall 4 The courte maketh ouer moche compte of thys fortune. 1560 Whitehorne Arte of Warre (1573) 49 b, A good Capitayne..ought not to make a coumpte of hurte that is particular. 1839–48 Bailey Festus Proem, He makes no mention, takes no compt of them. |
¶ c. The pl. counts (compts) was sometimes used as singular, in senses 4, 5. (A countes for acountes: cf. account n. 9.) Obs.
| c 1450 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 569/33 Calculus, a cowntes. c 1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) B iv, On this countes man specially should muse. 1526 Tindale Luke xvi. 2 Geve a comptes off thy Steward shippe. |
† 6. With upon, on: Consideration, cause, reason; = account n. 4 a. Obs. rare.
| 1647 H. More Song of Soul i. ii. cxiii, [They] count themselves His onely choice Ofspring Upon no count but that their count is so. 1817 M. Edgeworth Ormond i. (1832) 15 Lady O'Shane grew restless on another count. |
† 7. Narration, tale, story; = account n. 16.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 5 b, What shal I make you long compte. c 1500 Melusine 203 What shuld preuayll you long compte. |
8. Law. Each particular charge in a declaration or indictment; also, in a real action, used for the whole declaration: see count v. 11.
| 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. ii. 10 In every count, barre, replication, rejoynder, etc. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. vii. 18 The other Motiue Why to a publike count I might not go. 1607–72 J. Cowell Interpr., Count signifieth as much as the original Declaration in a Processe, though more used in real then personal Actions. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 293 The declaration, narratio, or count, antiently called the tale; in which the plaintiff sets forth his cause of complaint at length. 1851 H. Martineau Hist. Peace (1877) III. iv. ix. 21 O'Connell and his comrades pleaded guilty to the first fourteen counts in the indictment. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xciv. 307 The indictment fails on this count also. |
9. attrib. and Comb., as † count-book, an account-book, a note-book; † count-caster, a caster of accounts, a calculator; count-fish Austral., a full-grown schnapper (see quots.); † count-free a. or adv., without giving an account; † count-maker, one who ‘makes count of’ or estimates; † count-making, rendering account; count-muster Austral., a gathering, esp. of cattle, for purposes of counting them; count-noun = countable n. (opp. mass-noun); count-rate, the rate at which counts (sense 2 d above) are recorded by a radiation counter; count-wheel, the wheel regulating the striking in some clocks.
| 1605 B. Jonson Volpone v. i, Get thee a cap, a *count-book, pen and ink, Papers afore thee. 1670–98 R. Lassels Voy. Italy I. 144 No man reproaches unto them the way they took to come thither, whether..by the school-book or the count-book. |
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (1884) 163 Everi schollar must make his reckning to be..a wise *count-kaster. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter iii. 3 One text [Acts i. 7]..hath bred the gout in the fingers of all our Pythagorean Count-casters. |
| 1874 in Tenison-Woods Fishes N.S.W. (1882) 41 The ordinary schnapper, or *count-fish, implies that all of a certain size are to count as twelve to the dozen, the shoal or school-fish, eighteen or twenty-four to the dozen. Ibid., The usual method of estimating quantity for sale by the fisherman is, as the schnapper or count-fish, the school-fish, and squire. |
| 1644 Prynne Check to Britannicus 7 To be forced to give in a speedy account, of all the vast summes of monies..received by him..that so he may not escape *Count-free. |
| 1553 N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices (1556) 24 That we may be good *countmakers of duties. |
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 260 Geve us accompt of the great treasure of Flaundyrs which ye have governed so long without *compt making. |
| 1891 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Sydney-side Saxon 1 The old man's having a regular *count-muster of his sons and daughters, and their children and off-side relatives. |
| 1952 Structural Notes & Corpus (Comm. Lang. Programs, Amer. Council of Learned Societies) 60 *Count-nouns are nouns which form plurals and can be used with a number or with the indefinite article. 1958 P. Roberts Understanding Eng. xi. 153 The distinctions intuitively made between..‘count nouns’ and ‘mass nouns’. 1965 N. Chomsky Theory of Syntax ii. 64 Boy is a Count Noun (as distinct from the Mass Noun butter and the Abstract Noun sincerity). |
| 1956 Nature 11 Feb. 286/1 The *count-rate is proportional to the free gas density. 1961 Lancet 16 Sept. 634/1 The scintillation counters were..connected..to the scaling unit and the count-rates determined over a period of 100 seconds. |
| 1647 J. Carter Nail & Wheel 85 That which the *count-wheel doth in the Clock; tell the hours. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 156 [A] Count Wheel..[is] a circular plate with notches in the edges at distances corresponding to the hours struck, used in striking work of a kind rarely made except for turret clocks. |
▪ II. count, n.2
(kaʊnt)
[a. AF. counte = OF. cunte, conte, (in nom. case quens, cuens, cons) = Pr. comte (nom. coms), Sp. conde, It. conte:—L. comit-em (nom. comes) lit. ‘companion’, subseq. a title of dignity in the empire (cf. peer). The word was common in AF. of all ages, in the sense of earl, but, unlike the feminine countess, never passed into English till used in 16th c. to represent the mod.Fr. comte and It. conte, as foreign titles. See also county n.2]
1. A title of nobility in some European countries, corresponding to the English title earl (by which in earlier times it was always translated).
It is now used to render not only the various cognate Romanic words, but also the German graf and its cognates in Du., Da., Sw., etc.
In reference to Roman History, it translates L. comes, as in Count of Britain (Comes Britanniæ) and Count of the Saxon Shore (Comes Littoris Saxonici), two of the generals of the Roman province of Britannia in the 4th century.
| [1258 Procl. Hen. III (French ver.) Henri par la grace deu, Rey de Engleterre, Sire de Irlande, Duc de Normandie de Aquiten et Cunte de Angou. (Eng. ver.) Henri þurȝ godes fultume king on Engleneloande, Lhoauerd on Yrloande, Duk on Normandie on Aquitaine and eorl on Aniow. 1292 Britton i. i. §5 Le counte de Norfolk.] |
| 1553 Machyn's Diary (Camden) 34 Phelyp and Marie by the grace of God kyng and quene of England, Franse, Napuls, Jerusalem, and Ierland..prynsses of Spayne and Ses[ily], archesdukes of Austherege..Contes of Haspurge, Flanders, and Tyrole. 1561 T. Hoby (title), The Courtyer of Covnt Baldessar Castilio. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 217 Certain Italianate Contes, humorous Caualiers. 1595 Shakes. John iv. iii. 15 The Count Meloone a Noble Lord of France. 1599 ― Much Ado ii. i. 218 Now Signior, where's the Count, did you see him? 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 173 [In France] The Governours of Cities were in old time called Dukes, and they of Provinces, Counts. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 234 The Counts or Dukes of the midland parts, and the Count of the Sea-Coast or Saxon Shore, had distinct charges. 1777 Watson Philip II (1839) 127 Had Count Egmont been of the same opinion with the prince of Orange. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xvii. (1846) II. 35 All these provincial generals were therefore dukes; but no more than ten among them were dignified with the rank of counts or companions, a title of honour, or rather of favour, which had been recently invented in the court of Constantine. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 511 The primitive organisation of the church of Germany under Charlemagne, founded on the combined power and agency of the bishops and counts. 1889 Whitaker's Almanack 494 The German Empire..Ambassador in London, Count Hatzfeldt-Wildenberg. |
2. Count Palatine: orig. in the later Roman Empire a count (comes) attached to the imperial palace, and having supreme judicial authority in all causes that came to the king's immediate audience; thence, under the German Emperors, etc., a count to whom it was granted to exercise supreme jurisdiction in his fief or province; in English History = Earl Palatine, the earl or other proprietor of a county palatine, now applied to the Earl of Chester, and Duke of Lancaster, dignities which are attached to the crown. See palatine.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 64 Why, he hath..a better bad habite of frowning then the Count Palentine. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 56 Two of the English counties, Chester and Lancaster are counties palatine, and the earls of Chester and the dukes of Lancaster bear the titles of counts palatine. The archbishop of York, previously to the reign of Elizabeth, claimed to be a count palatine within his possession of Hexham and Hexhamshire. |
3. Comb. count-bishop, a bishop holding also the temporal dignity of count; so count-cardinal (applied to Wolsey, who, as Archbishop of York, was Count of Hexhamshire).
| 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 172 But our Count-Cardinall Has done this, and tis well: for worthy Wolsey (Who can⁓not erre) he did it. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. Pref., Lorenzo Count-bishop of Ceneda. |
▪ III. count, v.
(kaʊnt)
Forms: 4–6 counte, (4 Sc. cont, 5 cownt(e, kownt), 4– count. Also β. 4–9 compt, 6 coumpt.
[ME. counte-n, a. OF. cunte-r, conte-r = Pr., Sp., Pg. contar, It. contare:—L. computāre to calculate, reckon, f. com- together + putāre to think: see compute, a modern adoption of the L. Mod.F. has since the 15th c. spelt compter in the sense ‘count’, keeping conter in the sense ‘tell, relate’: cf. the sense development of tell. Following the Fr., compt was a variant in English from the 15th to the 18th c.]
I. trans.
1. a. To tell over one by one, to assign to (individual objects in a collection) the numerals one, two, three, etc. so as to ascertain their number; to number, enumerate; to reckon, reckon up, calculate; also, merely to repeat the numerals in order up to a specified number, as to count ten.
Now the ordinary word for this; formerly tell was used.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1731 Gode hatz counted þy kyndam bi a clene noumbre. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5549 Of knighthede to count þere was the clene floure. 1515 Barclay Egloges iii. (1570) C ij/2 Suche blinde fooles as can not count nor tell A score saue twentie. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. N v, Comptand..swa mony dominical letters as yair be vnities in ye nombre of ye circle of ye sone of yat ȝere. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 162 Then must I count my gaines. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 75 Inhabitants not to be counted. 1715 Pope 2nd Ep. Miss Blount 18 Count the slow clock, and dine exact at noon. 1734 ― Ess. Man iv. 89 Count all th' advantage prosp'rous Vice attains. 1843 Macaulay Lays, Lake Regillus xxviii, And still stood all who saw them fall While men might count a score. 1844 Emerson Lect., New Eng. Ref. Wks. (Bohn) I. 262 The persons who at forty years, still read Greek, can all be counted on your hand. Mod. There are savages who cannot count more than three. |
b. Mus. To mark (the time or rhythm of music) by counting the beats orally. Also absol.
| 1848 Rimbault First Bk. Piano 31 The time should at first be counted audibly—one, two, three, four—and so on, during each bar. Ibid. 32 In slow movements..it is better to count by Quavers; in quick times, by Crotchets. Mod. You are not counting! No, I can play without that. |
c. to count up: to find the whole sum of by counting, to reckon up. to count out: to count and give out or take out (from a stock), to count so as to exhaust the stock. to count out the House (of Commons): to bring the sitting to a close on counting the number of members present (which the Speaker must do when his attention is drawn to the matter) and finding it less than forty, the number required to ‘make a House’; also loosely to count out a member or measure, i.e. to stop him or it by this means.
| 1833 [see counting vbl. n.]. 1839 Ann. Register 51 [He] had not proceeded far in his address, when the House was counted out. 1862 Illustr. Lond. News XLI. 74/2 Mr. Freeland..was counted out summarily. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. iv. 73 The action of counting out coin. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 98 To count up his talents and the usury of his own which he added to them. 1884 Graphic 21 June 595/2 It was expected that..the House would be counted out at 9 o'clock. |
d. to count kin (Sc.): to reckon degrees of kinship with; hence, to be so near of kin that the degrees can be counted or exactly stated. (Used by Scott in the sense ‘To compare one's pedigree with that of another’.)
| 1805 Scott Last Minstr. iv. xxvi, No knight in Cumberland so good, But William may count with him kin and blood. |
2. a. To include in the reckoning; to reckon in.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 210 b, A naturall daye..that is a daye & a nyght counted togyder. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 70 He is not counted in the number of kinges. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 145 They are bound..to serve three moneths within the Land, and forty dayes without, not counting the dayes of marching. 1859 Jephson Brittany xii. 192 In medieval warfare none but horsemen were counted. 1891 Law Times XCII. 106/2 The present number [of the House of Lords] is, without counting princes of the blood, 461. |
b. With in. To include in the reckoning; to consider (a person) as a participant or supporter; to include. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1857 Knickerbocker Feb. 185, ‘I propose that we all just empty our pockets and show what we've got.’ ‘Good,’ says Hiram, ‘count me in.’ 1859 Ibid. Nov. 559 In these days of daring ‘Balloonry’, the Knickerbocker is to be ‘counted in’. 1912 Punch 17 July 42 (caption) Lady, an there be an Armageddon or other scrap toward, count me in! 1915 J. Buchan 39 Steps i. 15, I need help worse than any man ever needed it, and I want to know if I can count you in. 1924 Wodehouse Bill the Conqueror xiii. 220 Bob the Sealyham..if aware that one of the gang contemplated going for a walk, would..show a disposition to count himself in. |
3. To esteem, account, reckon, consider, regard, hold (a thing) to be (so and so). a. with obj. and compl.; = account v. 6 a.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1685 Þus he countes hym a kow, þat watz a kyng ryche. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Ninian 1155 To god I cont a fa Þat but chesoune a mane wald sla. c 1500 New Not-br. Mayd in Anc. Poet. Tracts (Percy Soc.) 44 In cardes and dyce, He compteth no vyce. 1546 Supplic. Poore Commons (1871) 88 Coumptynge all fyshe that cometh to the net. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. (1603) 263 They compt it a heinous crime. 1603 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 32 The coast of Nova Hispania counting his beginning at the town of Santa Helena. 1658 A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. ii. xiii. 97 These Wounds are counted mortal. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 15 It was counted a great exploit to pass this strait. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 31 Must we count Life a curse and not a blessing? |
b. with for (arch.), as; = account v. 6 b.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 355 (Mätz.) Þey..counteþ reste for likyng, and fredom for richesse. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 48 But now..kownt we gold as cley. 1535 Coverdale Job xviii. 3 Wherefore are we counted as beestes? 1557 North tr. Gueuara's Diall of Princes 217 b/2 We thinke that it counteth vs for men that be wise, when, etc. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 338 Sir Robert, ye are..counted for a valiaunt man. 1611 Bible Job xix. 15 My maides count me for a stranger. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 1397, I count you for a fool. 1859 Jephson Brittany ii. 14 Died and was counted as a saint. |
c. with inf. or obj. clause. arch. or dial.
(With clause colloq. in U.S.: cf. reckon, calculate.)
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 165 Hym thei coumpt to bee..a good Rhetorician. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 31 The Sommer seede..is..counted to yeelde more flowre then the Winter grayne. 1642 Rogers Naaman 34 Compting knowledge to bee an happinesse. 1682 Bunyan Holy War, I count that old Ill-Pause..did draw up those proposals. 1753 Foote Eng. in Paris i, I count we shall ha' the whole Gang in a Se'nnight. a 1848 D. Humphreys Yankee in England (Bartlett), Count de Luc. You can read? Doolittle. I count I can. 1874 Blackie Self-cult. 14 Count yourself not to know a fact when you know that it took place, but..when you see it as it did take place. |
4. To reckon, estimate, esteem (at such a price or value); † to esteem, value, hold of account (obs.).
| c 1340 Cursor M. 27775 (Fairf.) Heuenes of mannis hert Þat countis noȝt his awen quert. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 320, I count nocht my lyff a stra. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 303 Caton counteþ hit at nouht and canonistres at lasse. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 191 Y counte hyme nat at a cres. a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. iv, Scho compt him not twa clokkis. 1857 De Quincey China Wks. 1871 XVI. 249 Homage paid to a picture, when counted against homage paid to a living man, is but a shadow. |
† 5. To reckon or impute to, put down to the account of. Obs.
| 1535 Coverdale Gen. xv. 6 Abram beleued the Lorde, and y{supt} was counted vnto him for righteousnes. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. ii. i, All the Impossibilities, which Poets Count to extravagance of loose Description. |
† 6. To tell, relate, recount. Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xvii. 183 O þing þat I haue herd cownted whan I was ȝong. 1612 Dekker If it be not good Wks. 1873 III. 288 Come count your newes. 1655 tr. De Parc's Francion v. 13, I..counted to him..the services I was capable to do for Philemon. 1778 Camp Guide 1 Your Tommy now writes, To 'count his misfortunes. |
II. intr. (often with indirect passive: e.g. to be counted upon).
† 7. a. To reckon, make reckoning. Obs. exc. in phr. to count without one's host: see host.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 31 For to compten ate lest. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 552 in Babees Bk. 317 Þo countrollour..Wrytes vp þo somme..And helpes to count. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 97 O heuinlie fader..be to vsz marciful..and count notht scherplie vith vsz. 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. Rom. II. 41 Christe gladly receyued you, not coumptynge vpon the offences of your former lyfe. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 22 Hudibras..Found..He did but Count without his Host. 1877 S. Owen in Wellesley's Desp. p. xv, He counted without his host. |
b. To account for, give account of. Obs. rare.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 305 Executours..redy to count for alle þe testament. |
† 8. a. To make account of, think (much, little, lightly, etc.) of, care for. Obs.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 23337 (Fairf.) Of þaire misfare þai counte at noȝt. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 441 Þe pope..counteth nouȝt þough crystene ben culled and robbed. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 20 Prydfull hee was..And counted not for Gods fauour. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 65 So painted..that no man counts of her beauty. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. (1682) 386, I counting nothing of it, would needs..go in again. 1700 S. Parker Six Philosophical Essays 31 He counts so highly of his merit, that, etc. 1845–6 Trench Huls. Lect. Ser. i. vii. 108 To make them count light of it. |
b. To think of, judge of (as); = account v. 7.
| 1602 W. Watson Decacordon 336 The Jesuits cannot abide to be counted of as good, devout, simple, religious men, but, etc. |
9. With on, upon († of): To make the basis of one's calculations or plans; to look for or expect with assurance; to depend or rely on (in reference to a possible contingency).
| 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. State (1840) iii. xxiii. 208 There is less honesty, wisdom, and mercy in men than is counted on. 1682 Bunyan Holy War 160 The whole town counted of no other. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 191 ¶10 We..may possibly never possess what we have so foolishly counted upon. a 1745 Swift (J.), I think it a great errour to count upon the genius of a nation as a standing argument. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, III. viii. 74 Counting on them as sure auxiliaries. 1840 Macaulay Ranke Ess. (1851) II. 130 Only one thirtieth part of the population could be counted on as good Catholics. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby viii. iii, The Government count on the seat. |
10. (absol. use of 1.) a. To practise arithmetic, to ‘do sums’. Now dial.
| 1588 R. Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 93 Schooles..in the which they doo learne to write, read, and count. a 1893 Mod. Sc. At school we learned to count on slates. |
b. To reckon numerically.
| 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. v. 106 The Egyptians..counted by upright strokes up to nine, and then made a special sign for ten. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. i. 10 To count by tens is the simplest way of counting. Mod. I am tired of counting. |
† 11. Law. To plead in a court of law. [AF. counter, in Law-books from 13th c. Cf. count n.1 8.] to count upon: to make (any fact) the basis of a count or plea. Obs.
In the technical language of a system of procedure now abolished, the plaintiff was said to ‘count’ when he declared by the mouth of his advocate, or by written document, the nature of his complaint, while ‘plead’ and ‘plea’ were specifically used of the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's count or counts.
A serjeant-at-law when appointed went before the judges and formally opened an imaginary case, in order to manifest his right to ‘count’ or plead.
| 1669 Lond. Gaz. No. 415/4 The next day..they Counted before the Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas at Serjeants-Inn, and this day appeared before all the Judges of England in the Temple-Hall where they had their Robes put on, and received their Coifs, Hoods, and Caps from the Judges. 1689 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 529. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4130/3 They again Counted, and gave Rings to all the Judges, Serjeants and Officers. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 295 In an action on the case upon an assumpsit for goods sold and delivered, the plaintiff usually counts or declares, first upon a settled and agreed price..and lest he should fail in proof of this, he counts likewise upon a quantum valebant. 1809 Tomlins Law Dict. s.v. Count, In passing a recovery at the Common Pleas' bar, a serjeant at law counts upon the præcipe, etc. |
III. intr. with passive sense (neuter-passive).
12. a. To admit of being counted; in quot. of a verse, to ‘scan’ (by counting the feet).
| 1845 Blackw. Mag. LVII. 397 An unimpeachable verse, for it counts right. |
b. (with compl.). To amount to, be in number, ‘number’; to reckon as (so many).
| 1819 Byron Juan ii. lxiii, They counted thirty. 1820 Hoyle's Games Impr. 371 The carambole counts two. 1833 De Quincey Autobiog. Sk. Wks. 1863 XIV. 2 note, First and last, we counted as eight children..though never counting more than six living at once. |
13. To be reckoned or accounted.
| 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xcix, They count as kindred souls. 1874 Athenæum 23 Mar., This volume..may count among the scarcest works of its time. |
14. To enter into the account or reckoning: a. to count for (much, little, nothing, etc.): to be of (much, little, no) account.
| 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xi. 630 The lower classes can count for little in [their] eyes. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. v. (1889) 43 Oxford ought to be the place..where money should count for nothing. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars i. 23 High birth..among the haughty Castillians has always counted for a great deal. |
b. absol.
| 1885 Proctor Whist App. 186 Many doubt whether good play really counts much at Whist. 1892 Sir W. Harcourt in Daily News 12 July 6/3 There is Bedfordshire, and Cambridgeshire..and Somersetshire; but all these do not count! They like to leave out of account the 21 seats we won at the by-elections, but they do count upon a division. a 1893 Mod. In this examination the first 250 marks do not count at all. |
c. With against: to be considered to the disadvantage of (a person); to be reckoned on the negative side in terms of (something).
| 1917 Kipling Diversity of Creatures 268 ‘Then it didn't count against me,’ Winton gasped. 1977 Washington Post 10 Apr. e5/2 Their experiences as women, and as secretaries and executives in large organizations, did not count against them. 1982 N.Y. Times 28 Feb. iii. 15/1 Congress did liberalize the amount of assets a family can own without having the holdings count against them for purposes of the eligibility formula. |
IV. With advs.
15. count out (see also 1 c). a. To adjudge (a boxer, etc.) to be the loser by a count (count n.1 1 c); freq. pass.
| 1808 Repertory (Boston) 2 Aug. (Th.), The judges were proceeding to ‘count out’ his antagonist [sc. a fighting cock]. 1903 Science Siftings XXIV. 79/1 He falls, and is counted out. 1923 Soutar Battling Barker xx. 282 He is down on the canvas and the referee is shouting in his ear. He is being counted out. 1965 M. Golesworthy Encycl. Boxing (ed. 3) 63/1 Dupas was counted out by the official ‘counter’. |
b. In children's games, to count (the players) with the words of a rhyme, formula, etc., the last at each turn being reckoned out of the game or chosen for a particular rôle in the game (see quots.); also intr. Hence counting-out rhyme, song.
| 1842 J. O. Halliwell Nursery Rhymes 123 Children stand round, and are counted out one by one by means of this rhyme. 1849 ― Popular Rhymes iii. 134 The operation of counting-out is a very important mystery in many puerile games. 1888 H. C. Bolton Counting-out Rhymes 2 The leader then counts out once more, and the child not set free by the magic word is declared to be ‘it’. 1900 E. V. & E. Lucas What shall we do Now? 99 To decide who is to begin a game there are various counting-out rhymes. All the players stand in a circle, surrounding the one who counts. At each pause in the rhyme..this one touches the players in turn until the end is reached. The player to whom the last number comes is to begin. 1919 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-Lore 377 Counting-out rhymes, or ‘Counts’, are said in connection with..‘Seek and Find’. 1923 Kipling Land & Sea Tales 279 (title) A counting-out song. 1956 Auden Making, Knowing & Judging 8 Unofficial poetry, such as counting-out rhymes, and official poetry such as the odes of Keats. |
c. To leave out of count or consideration; to reckon as not to be counted or depended upon; to exclude. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1854 Knickerbocker June 643 When it comes to hunting grizzlies on a pony, jist ‘count me out’. 1863 Congress. Globe 23 Feb. 1227/3 If that is the gentleman's idea, I beg him to count me out. 1926 E. Wallace Yellow Snake iii. 27 So far as marriage with an unknown man is concerned, you can count me out. 1937 A. Christie Murder in Mews iv. 116 ‘Mrs. Vanderlyn is perhaps the dear friend of some one else in the house?’ ‘You can count me out!’ said Sir George with a grin. |
d. Austral. and N.Z. To count the number of sheep as they leave the shearing-shed. So counting-out pen.
| 1874 J. A. H. Caird Sheepfarming in N.Z. iii. 23 A small door for each shearer to put his shorn sheep out of the shed, and into the counting out pens. 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xxix. 381 [After being shorn] the sheep are inspected by the manager in charge before they are counted out and allowed to mix with the general flock. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. May 463/2 It is often an advantage to clear the counting-out pens as frequently as possible during shearing or crutching. |
16. count down. a. trans. To make a countdown to indicate the time of (an event).
| 1958 Times 12 Aug. 3/1 The final moments were ‘counted down’ so that every man knew the exact location. 1959 John o' London's 19 Nov. 233/3 He sees his hero as a visionary: he has him anticipating the H-bomb by ‘counting down’ the end of the world. |
b. intr. To make a count-down. Also fig., to make final preparations in anticipation of an event.
| 1977 Washington Post 7 Apr. d9/4 They handled their canoes smartly, backing and steadying while the starter counted down. 1981 N.Y. Times 2 Aug. iv. 21/1 Hong Kong is more important to China than vice-versa—a fact that the free port relies on as it counts down to 1997. 1983 Guardian Weekly 11 Sept. 4 (heading) Counting down to a Winter Cruise. 1984 Economist 27 Oct. 50/2 [He] was merely a hired gun who would, before long, be learning to count down in Chinese. |