# count

Pronunciation: say "KOWNT" /kaʊnt/

## Verb

1. To find out how many objects are in a group by adding them up one by one.
   - Simple: To find out how many things there are in a group.
   - _The teacher asked each child to count the desks in the room._
   - _Officials counted every ballot twice to confirm the result._
3. To say numbers aloud in their proper order.
   - Simple: To say numbers in order, like one, two, three.
   - _Children learn to count before they start school._
   - _He counted under his breath while he waited._
5. To have importance or significance.
   - Simple: To matter or be important.
   - _In a job interview, the things that count most are how well you listen and what you ask._
   - _Her opinion counts more than anyone else's here._
6. To include someone or something when reckoning a total or making a decision.
   - Simple: To include someone or something when adding things up.
   - _Remember to count the volunteers when you order lunch._
   - _There will be eight of us at dinner, not counting the baby._
8. To regard someone or something as being of a particular kind, or to qualify as an example of it.
   - Simple: To think of something as a certain kind of thing, or to be accepted as that kind.
   - _Many critics count the novel a masterpiece._
   - _She counted the trip a success despite the rain._
10. To add up to a particular number in total.
   - Simple: To add up to a certain number in total.
   - _The casualties counted in the hundreds after the battle._
   - _Donations to the fund count in the millions each year._

## Noun

2. The act of counting a number of things, or the total reached by counting.
   - Simple: The act of counting things, or the number you get when you count them.
   - _The official count came to three hundred votes._
   - _After the recount, the final count still showed a tie._
4. A European nobleman, originally one governing a county, ranking below a duke or marquis and above a viscount or baron.
   - Simple: A European nobleman of high rank, below a duke.
   - _The count owned vast estates across the region._
   - _She married a wealthy Italian count last spring._
7. An individual accusation formally made against someone in an indictment or legal complaint.
   - Simple: One of the separate charges against someone in a court case.
   - _The defendant faced three counts of fraud._
   - _He pleaded guilty to one count but not the other._
9. A counting down toward a starting point, marking the time left before an event begins.
   - Simple: A backward sequence of numbers spoken down to zero before an event starts.
   - _Mission control began the count an hour before liftoff._
   - _At the end of the count, the fireworks erupted over the harbor._
11. In baseball, the current tally of balls and strikes against a batter during an at-bat.
   - Simple: In baseball, the number of balls and strikes a batter has so far.
   - _The count stood at two balls and one strike._
   - _He worked the count to his advantage before swinging._

## Adjective

12. Used on packaging to state how many identical items a package contains.
   - Simple: Showing how many of the same items are inside a package.
   - _She bought a 100-count box of trash bags._
   - _The pharmacy stocks a 500-count bottle of vitamins._
13. Of a noun, denoting something that can be counted and that takes both singular and plural forms.
   - Simple: Describing a noun you can count, such as in 'two dogs' or 'five books.'
   - _'Chair' is a count noun, so you can say 'one chair' or 'three chairs.'_
   - _Grammar books distinguish count nouns from mass nouns like 'water.'_

## Verb

14. To take notice or account of something, or to hold it in regard. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To take notice of something, or to care about it.
16. In law, to plead a case orally before a court, or to recite a formal charge aloud. *(obsolete, UK)*
   - Simple: To argue a legal case out loud in a court of law.
17. To recount or relate something; to tell a tale or report a series of events. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To tell a story or describe events to someone.

## Noun

15. The value, worth, or estimation in which a person or thing is held. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Worth, value, or the importance given to something.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A disguised spelling of cunt, the taboo swear word, used mainly as an insult aimed at a person.
- (noun) Any of several nymphalid butterflies of the genus Tanaecia, related to those known as earls and viscounts.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–17** — Latin computō ("I compute") led to Old French and Anglo-Norman conter, which meant "add up" and also "tell a story." Middle English borrowed it as counten, the source of this sense. Compute is a doublet, and the word pushed out native Old English tellan, which survives as Modern English tell.
**Meaning 4** — Latin comes ("companion"), in particular its accusative comitem, was applied to a noble who fought beside the king. It became Old French comte ("count") and Anglo-Norman conte, and then Middle English counte. Comes, comte and conte are doublets.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/count (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).