| 释义 |
▪ 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.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 136 To þe houses of Chartres tuo þousand mark bi counte. a1400–50Alexander 3614 Mare þan a stanecast at a count be-fore his kniȝtis all. 1530Palsgr. 209/2 Count, a rekenning, compte. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 62 Infinite..because..out of all count. 1609Bible (Douay) II. 1093 About this time..the count of seventie wekes begane, according to the prophecie of Daniel. 1658W. Burton Itin. Anton. 31 The count of all their Journeys through all Italy, beginning at it [the Milliarium aureum]. 1768in 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.
βc1400Rom. Rose 5029 Ther nys compte ne mesure. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) P v b, I demaunded then to haue a compte of the people. a1639Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. i. (1677) 13 Contrary to the Paschal compts, and Synodal Decrees of the Bishops. 1830Tennyson 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.
1862Sat. Rev. 18 Feb. 153 At one time there was imminent risk that the Address of condolence would evaporate in a count-out. 1892Ibid. 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.
1902H. L. Wilson Spenders 86 It rattled me so I had to take the full count. 1913Chums 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. 1922R. Parrish Case & Girl 322 West went down for the count, lying motionless on the floor. 1929Evening News 18 Nov. 16/5 The Walthamstow boxer was floored for a long count, and his seconds wisely threw in his towel. 1930F. Yeats-Brown Bengal Lancer xii. 173 Now that Nur-ud-din is within punching distance, he'll put him out for the count. 1932Kipling 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.’ 1933Wodehouse Mulliner Nights vii. 242 There are some speeches before which dignity melts like ice in August, resentment takes the full count. 1947D. 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. 1953A. Baron Human Kind xxiv. 179 We won't be safe till we've put them out for the count. 1965M. 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.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 197/3 They moche doubted that they shold not fynde theyr counte ne tale. 1570Turberv. Disprayse of Woman (R.), Let Creside be in compt and number of the mo. a1632T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xxvii. 103 Among the bed-roll of sinnes..Perjury is one of the count. a1745Swift Wks. (1841) II. 121 Which..will by a gross computation, very near double the count. 1832Tennyson 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.
1837Penny 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. 1877Daily 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. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 209/1 Yarns are designated according to the count, or number of hanks of 840 yards, in each pound weight. 1927T. 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. 1934Planning I. xix. 4 Different counts and types of yarn. 1963A. 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.
1884W. 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.
1921Phil. 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. 1930Physical Rev. XXXV. 651/1 One out of 200 (residual) counts (a practical figure) in each individual tube-counter will be accidentally ‘coincident’. 1946Korff Electron & Nuclear Counters iv. 82 The electron which is thus freed will start a new avalanche and produce a new count. 1958O. 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.
a1325Song Poor Husbandm. in Pol. Songs (Camden) 152 Thus y kippe ant cacche cares ful colde, Seththe y counte ant cot hade to kepe. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles 27 Whane the countis were caste. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxv. 137 Jaques Dartuell had..assembled all the reuenewes of Flaunders, without any count gyuen. 1628Rutherford 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. 1869Act 32–3 Vict. c. 116 §7 The grantee being always bound..to hold count and reckoning with the grantor for the same.
βc1425Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxiv. 33 Ðe nest compt, þat þat Schyrrawe þare Suld gyue. a1575Abp. Parker Corr. 476 In time of visitation and examining the comptes. 1605Shakes. Macb. i. vi. 26 Your Seruants euer, Haue..what is theirs in compt, To make their Audit at your Highnesse pleasure. 1610Histrio-m. iii. 240 Look, Steward, to your compt. a1764Lloyd 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.
1483Caxton Cato A iv b, To the ende that thou mayst gyue counte whan thou shalt be required. 1552Lyndesay Tragedie 304 Ȝe sall be callit to ȝour count Off euerilk thyng belanging to ȝour curis. 1598Yong Diana 169, I doe wish, that Loue may take A narrow count of thee heere⁓after. 1848Kingsley Saint's Trag. ii. vi, Till I shall render Count of the precious charge.
β1508Fisher Wks. (1876) 179 Yf the clergy lyue..in maner as they shold gyue no compte of theyr lyf past. 1556Lauder Dewtie of Kyngis 47 Kyngs sall geue ane compt tharefore In presens of the kyng of glore. 1604Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 273 When we shall meete at compt, This looke of thine will hurle my Soule from Heauen. 1861Ld. 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.
1475Bk. Noblesse 31 They set no count ne prise of it. 1529More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1239/1 Though in the compt of the world it seme to come by chaunce of warre. 1555Fardle Facions i. vi. 100 Thei..make compte of their wiues and their children in commune. 1570R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 82 They make no counte of generall councels. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. x. 18 Some other, that in hard assaies Were cowards knowne, and little count did hold. 1647[see sense 6]. 1823Lamb Elia (1860) 45 In proportion as the years both lessen and shorten, I set more count upon their periods. 1833Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound Poems 1850 I. 150 Of miserable men, he took no count. 1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. III. iv. xiv. §37 It has missed count of exactly the most important fact. 1884Times (Weekly ed.) 10 Oct. 2/2 Ireland may be left out of count.
β1484Caxton Curiall 4 The courte maketh ouer moche compte of thys fortune. 1560Whitehorne Arte of Warre (1573) 49 b, A good Capitayne..ought not to make a coumpte of hurte that is particular. 1839–48Bailey 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.
c1450Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 569/33 Calculus, a cowntes. c1510Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) B iv, On this countes man specially should muse. 1526Tindale Luke xvi. 2 Geve a comptes off thy Steward shippe.
†6. With upon, on: Consideration, cause, reason; = account n. 4 a. Obs. rare.
1647H. More Song of Soul i. ii. cxiii, [They] count themselves His onely choice Ofspring Upon no count but that their count is so. 1817M. Edgeworth Ormond i. (1832) 15 Lady O'Shane grew restless on another count.
†7. Narration, tale, story; = account n. 16.
c1477Caxton Jason 5 b, What shal I make you long compte. c1500Melusine 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.
1588Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. ii. 10 In every count, barre, replication, rejoynder, etc. 1602Shakes. Ham. iv. vii. 18 The other Motiue Why to a publike count I might not go. 1607–72J. Cowell Interpr., Count signifieth as much as the original Declaration in a Processe, though more used in real then personal Actions. 1768Blackstone Comm. III. 293 The declaration, narratio, or count, antiently called the tale; in which the plaintiff sets forth his cause of complaint at length. 1851H. Martineau Hist. Peace (1877) III. iv. ix. 21 O'Connell and his comrades pleaded guilty to the first fourteen counts in the indictment. 1888Bryce 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.
1605B. Jonson Volpone v. i, Get thee a cap, a *count-book, pen and ink, Papers afore thee. 1670–98R. 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.
1573G. Harvey Letter-bk. (1884) 163 Everi schollar must make his reckning to be..a wise *count-kaster. 1633T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter iii. 3 One text [Acts i. 7]..hath bred the gout in the fingers of all our Pythagorean Count-casters.
1874in 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.
1644Prynne 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.
1553N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices (1556) 24 That we may be good *countmakers of duties.
1568Grafton 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.
1952Structural 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. 1958P. Roberts Understanding Eng. xi. 153 The distinctions intuitively made between..‘count nouns’ and ‘mass nouns’. 1965N. Chomsky Theory of Syntax ii. 64 Boy is a Count Noun (as distinct from the Mass Noun butter and the Abstract Noun sincerity).
1956Nature 11 Feb. 286/1 The *count-rate is proportional to the free gas density. 1961Lancet 16 Sept. 634/1 The scintillation counters were..connected..to the scaling unit and the count-rates determined over a period of 100 seconds.
1647J. Carter Nail & Wheel 85 That which the *count-wheel doth in the Clock; tell the hours. 1884F. 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.[1258Procl. 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. 1292Britton i. i. §5 Le counte de Norfolk.] 1553Machyn'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. 1561T. Hoby (title), The Courtyer of Covnt Baldessar Castilio. 1592Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 217 Certain Italianate Contes, humorous Caualiers. 1595Shakes. 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? 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 173 [In France] The Governours of Cities were in old time called Dukes, and they of Provinces, Counts. 1652Needham 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. 1777Watson Philip II (1839) 127 Had Count Egmont been of the same opinion with the prince of Orange. 1781Gibbon 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. 1845S. 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. 1889Whitaker'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.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 64 Why, he hath..a better bad habite of frowning then the Count Palentine. 1840Penny 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).
1613Shakes. 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. 1820Byron 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.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. B. 1731 Gode hatz counted þy kyndam bi a clene noumbre. c1400Destr. Troy 5549 Of knighthede to count þere was the clene floure. 1515Barclay Egloges iii. (1570) C ij/2 Suche blinde fooles as can not count nor tell A score saue twentie. 1588A. 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. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 162 Then must I count my gaines. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 75 Inhabitants not to be counted. 1715Pope 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. 1843Macaulay Lays, Lake Regillus xxviii, And still stood all who saw them fall While men might count a score. 1844Emerson 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.
1848Rimbault 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.]. 1839Ann. Register 51 [He] had not proceeded far in his address, when the House was counted out. 1862Illustr. Lond. News XLI. 74/2 Mr. Freeland..was counted out summarily. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. iv. 73 The action of counting out coin. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 98 To count up his talents and the usury of his own which he added to them. 1884Graphic 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’.)
1805Scott 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.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 210 b, A naturall daye..that is a daye & a nyght counted togyder. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 70 He is not counted in the number of kinges. 1630R. 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. 1859Jephson Brittany xii. 192 In medieval warfare none but horsemen were counted. 1891Law 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.).
1857Knickerbocker Feb. 185, ‘I propose that we all just empty our pockets and show what we've got.’ ‘Good,’ says Hiram, ‘count me in.’ 1859Ibid. Nov. 559 In these days of daring ‘Balloonry’, the Knickerbocker is to be ‘counted in’. 1912Punch 17 July 42 (caption) Lady, an there be an Armageddon or other scrap toward, count me in! 1915J. 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. 1924Wodehouse 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.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. B. 1685 Þus he countes hym a kow, þat watz a kyng ryche. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Ninian 1155 To god I cont a fa Þat but chesoune a mane wald sla. c1500New Not-br. Mayd in Anc. Poet. Tracts (Percy Soc.) 44 In cardes and dyce, He compteth no vyce. 1546Supplic. Poore Commons (1871) 88 Coumptynge all fyshe that cometh to the net. 1598R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. (1603) 263 They compt it a heinous crime. 1603R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 32 The coast of Nova Hispania counting his beginning at the town of Santa Helena. 1658A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. ii. xiii. 97 These Wounds are counted mortal. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 15 It was counted a great exploit to pass this strait. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 31 Must we count Life a curse and not a blessing?
b. with for (arch.), as; = account v. 6 b.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 355 (Mätz.) Þey..counteþ reste for likyng, and fredom for richesse. c1400Apol. Loll. 48 But now..kownt we gold as cley. 1535Coverdale Job xviii. 3 Wherefore are we counted as beestes? 1557North tr. Gueuara's Diall of Princes 217 b/2 We thinke that it counteth vs for men that be wise, when, etc. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 338 Sir Robert, ye are..counted for a valiaunt man. 1611Bible Job xix. 15 My maides count me for a stranger. 1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 1397, I count you for a fool. 1859Jephson 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.)
1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 165 Hym thei coumpt to bee..a good Rhetorician. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 31 The Sommer seede..is..counted to yeelde more flowre then the Winter grayne. 1642Rogers Naaman 34 Compting knowledge to bee an happinesse. 1682Bunyan Holy War, I count that old Ill-Pause..did draw up those proposals. 1753Foote Eng. in Paris i, I count we shall ha' the whole Gang in a Se'nnight. a1848D. Humphreys Yankee in England (Bartlett), Count de Luc. You can read? Doolittle. I count I can. 1874Blackie 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.).
c1340Cursor M. 27775 (Fairf.) Heuenes of mannis hert Þat countis noȝt his awen quert. 1375Barbour Bruce iii. 320, I count nocht my lyff a stra. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 303 Caton counteþ hit at nouht and canonistres at lasse. a1440Sir Degrev. 191 Y counte hyme nat at a cres. a1550Christis Kirke Gr. iv, Scho compt him not twa clokkis. 1857De 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.
1535Coverdale Gen. xv. 6 Abram beleued the Lorde, and yt was counted vnto him for righteousnes. 1701Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. ii. i, All the Impossibilities, which Poets Count to extravagance of loose Description.
†6. To tell, relate, recount. Obs.
c1400Mandeville (1839) xvii. 183 O þing þat I haue herd cownted whan I was ȝong. 1612Dekker If it be not good Wks. 1873 III. 288 Come count your newes. 1655tr. De Parc's Francion v. 13, I..counted to him..the services I was capable to do for Philemon. 1778Camp 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.
1393Gower Conf. III. 31 For to compten ate lest. c1450Bk. Curtasye 552 in Babees Bk. 317 Þo countrollour..Wrytes vp þo somme..And helpes to count. 1533Gau Richt Vay 97 O heuinlie fader..be to vsz marciful..and count notht scherplie vith vsz. 1549Coverdale Erasm. Par. Rom. II. 41 Christe gladly receyued you, not coumptynge vpon the offences of your former lyfe. 1663Butler Hud. i. iii. 22 Hudibras..Found..He did but Count without his Host. 1877S. Owen in Wellesley's Desp. p. xv, He counted without his host.
b. To account for, give account of. Obs. rare.
c1380Wyclif 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.
c1340Cursor M. 23337 (Fairf.) Of þaire misfare þai counte at noȝt. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 441 Þe pope..counteth nouȝt þough crystene ben culled and robbed. c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 20 Prydfull hee was..And counted not for Gods fauour. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 65 So painted..that no man counts of her beauty. 1632Lithgow Trav. ix. (1682) 386, I counting nothing of it, would needs..go in again. 1700S. Parker Six Philosophical Essays 31 He counts so highly of his merit, that, etc. 1845–6Trench Huls. Lect. Ser. i. vii. 108 To make them count light of it.
b. To think of, judge of (as); = account v. 7.
1602W. 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).
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. State (1840) iii. xxiii. 208 There is less honesty, wisdom, and mercy in men than is counted on. 1682Bunyan Holy War 160 The whole town counted of no other. 1711Addison Spect. No. 191 ⁋10 We..may possibly never possess what we have so foolishly counted upon. a1745Swift (J.), I think it a great errour to count upon the genius of a nation as a standing argument. 1769Robertson Chas. V, III. viii. 74 Counting on them as sure auxiliaries. 1840Macaulay Ranke Ess. (1851) II. 130 Only one thirtieth part of the population could be counted on as good Catholics. 1844Disraeli Coningsby viii. iii, The Government count on the seat.
10. (absol. use of 1.)
a. To practise arithmetic, to ‘do sums’. Now dial.
1588R. Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 93 Schooles..in the which they doo learne to write, read, and count. a1893Mod. Sc. At school we learned to count on slates.
b. To reckon numerically.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. v. 106 The Egyptians..counted by upright strokes up to nine, and then made a special sign for ten. 1865M. 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.
1669Lond. 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. 1689Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 529. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4130/3 They again Counted, and gave Rings to all the Judges, Serjeants and Officers. 1768Blackstone 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. 1809Tomlins 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).
1845Blackw. 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).
1819Byron Juan ii. lxiii, They counted thirty. 1820Hoyle's Games Impr. 371 The carambole counts two. 1833De 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.
1850Tennyson In Mem. xcix, They count as kindred souls. 1874Athenæum 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.
1857Buckle Civiliz. I. xi. 630 The lower classes can count for little in [their] eyes. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. v. (1889) 43 Oxford ought to be the place..where money should count for nothing. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars i. 23 High birth..among the haughty Castillians has always counted for a great deal.
b. absol.
1885Proctor Whist App. 186 Many doubt whether good play really counts much at Whist. 1892Sir 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. a1893Mod. 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).
1917Kipling Diversity of Creatures 268 ‘Then it didn't count against me,’ Winton gasped. 1977Washington Post 10 Apr. e5/2 Their experiences as women, and as secretaries and executives in large organizations, did not count against them. 1982N.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.
1808Repertory (Boston) 2 Aug. (Th.), The judges were proceeding to ‘count out’ his antagonist [sc. a fighting cock]. 1903Science Siftings XXIV. 79/1 He falls, and is counted out. 1923Soutar Battling Barker xx. 282 He is down on the canvas and the referee is shouting in his ear. He is being counted out. 1965M. 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.
1842J. 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. 1888H. 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’. 1900E. 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. 1919Jrnl. Amer. Folk-Lore 377 Counting-out rhymes, or ‘Counts’, are said in connection with..‘Seek and Find’. 1923Kipling Land & Sea Tales 279 (title) A counting-out song. 1956Auden 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.).
1854Knickerbocker June 643 When it comes to hunting grizzlies on a pony, jist ‘count me out’. 1863Congress. Globe 23 Feb. 1227/3 If that is the gentleman's idea, I beg him to count me out. 1926E. Wallace Yellow Snake iii. 27 So far as marriage with an unknown man is concerned, you can count me out. 1937A. 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.
1874J. 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. 1891R. 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. 1950N.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).
1958Times 12 Aug. 3/1 The final moments were ‘counted down’ so that every man knew the exact location. 1959John 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.
1977Washington Post 7 Apr. d9/4 They handled their canoes smartly, backing and steadying while the starter counted down. 1981N.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. 1983Guardian Weekly 11 Sept. 4 (heading) Counting down to a Winter Cruise. 1984Economist 27 Oct. 50/2 [He] was merely a hired gun who would, before long, be learning to count down in Chinese. |