Etymology: Middle English counte , < Old French conte, cunte = Italian conto < late Latin computum calculation, reckoning, < computāre to calculate, reckon: see count v. The spelling of the French was refashioned in 14th cent., after Latin, as compte, and this form became frequent also in English from the 15th to the 17th cent.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman count, counte, cuncte, Anglo-Norman and Middle French conte (Middle French, French comte ) high-ranking nobleman assigned civil or military duties by the monarch (1st half of the 10th cent. in Old French as compte , accusative; compare also the Anglo-Norman and Old French nominative forms cons , queons , Old French cuens , etc.), (in the late Roman Empire) high-ranking dignitary close to the emperor (c1050), (in Britain) earl (early 12th cent.) < classical Latin comit- , comes companion, person in the service or under the leadership of another, member of the staff of a Roman magistrate, provincial governor, or other official, retainer of an emperor or king, attendant or servant of a private person, in post-classical Latin also denoting various nobles and officials, e.g. among the Franks (5th cent.), among the Goths (6th cent.), ealdorman (frequently from 8th cent. in British sources), earl (frequently from 11th cent. in British sources) (compare peer n.). Compare Old Occitan comte , Catalan comte (1088), Spanish conde (999 as †konde ; compare also †cuende (c1140)), Italian conte (13th cent.; < French), Portuguese conde (1032 as †comde ). Compare earlier countess n. and later county n.²For further discussion of the semantic history of the Latin word see the detailed article in J. F. Niermeyer Mediae Latinitatis Lex. Minus (1976). The form comite probably shows the influence of post-classical Latin comit- , comes (see above). Compare similar forms at county n.¹, and also β. forms at countess n. In the form compte apparently remodelled after French †compte.

Etymology: Aphetic < account n.

Etymology: Middle English counte-n , < Old French cunter, conter = Provençal comtar , Spanish contar , Portuguese contar , Italian contare < Latin computāre to calculate, reckon, < com- together + putāre to think: see compute v. a modern adoption of the Latin. Modern French has since the 15th cent. spelt compter in the sense ‘count’, keeping conter in the sense ‘tell, relate’: compare the sense development of tell. Following the French, compt was a variant in English from the 15th to the 18th cent.