counter
English has several words spelled counter: a table or token for counting, from Medieval Latin computatorium; a person or device that counts, from Latin computator; and the adverb, adjective, noun and verb meaning “against”, from French contre and partly a shortening of encounter.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: UK /ˈkaʊn.tə/, US /ˈkaʊn.t̬ɚ/[4]
counter1 table
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English countour,[5][1] borrowed from Anglo-Norman countour, Old French contouer, comptoir “counting room, merchant's table”,[6][1][2] from Medieval Latin computātōrium (“place of accounts”),[6][1][5] from Latin computātus, past participle of computāre “to count, reckon”,[6][1] the source of compute and count.[1][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
A round piece of metal or ivory used in counting: about 1310 in the OED, about 1390 in Barnhart.[7][1] A table for counting money or keeping accounts: 1345 in Barnhart,[1] about 1369 in the OED,[7] the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[6]
Semantic evolution
Counters were later used to keep score in games (1579) and as the pieces in games such as draughts (1605).[7] An imitation coin or token is from 1526, and contemptuously money in general from 1601.[7] A banker's or money-changer's table, and the table in a shop over which goods are sold, is from 1688;[7] the word spread in the 19th century from banks to shops and then to display cases.[6] A kitchen counter is by 1875.[6] Over the counter, of goods sold and paid for, is by 1875, and under the counter, of clandestine sales, by 1926.[6]
Timeline
- c. 1310 – a counting token.[7]
- 1345 – a counting table.[1]
- 1526 – an imitation coin.[7]
- 1605 – a piece in a board game.[7]
- 1688 – a shop counter.[7]
- 1875 – a kitchen counter, and over the counter.[6]
- 1926 – under the counter.[6]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A long flat surface over which goods are sold or business is done in a shop, bank or office.
- A flat surface for preparing food in a kitchen.
- A small disc used in board games or for keeping count.
- An imitation coin; a token.
Word family
- countertop
counter2 one that counts
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English countour,[1][6] borrowed from Anglo-Norman countour (“accountant”), Old French conteor,[1][5][3] from Latin computātor (“reckoner”),[1][6] from computāre “to count”.[1] Anglo-French did not distinguish it in form from the word for a counting table,[3] and Etymonline treats it as a merger of the two.[6] It was also partly formed in English from count and -er.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
An accountant, a local tax official: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline;[1][6] Cunter is found earlier as a name.[1] One who counts or reckons: the 14th century in the OED.[7]
Semantic evolution
An apparatus for keeping count, as of the revolutions of a wheel, is from 1803,[7][6] and an instrument for counting ionizing particles, as in Geiger counter, from 1924.[7]
Timeline
Modern meaning
Noun
- A person who counts.
- A device that counts or records a number, such as a Geiger counter.
counter3 against
Etymology
The adverb is borrowed from Middle French contre (“against, opposite”),[1][2][5] from Latin contrā (“against”),[1][2][5] the source of contra-;[1] the adjective (1596) is an independent use of the prefix counter-.[1][2][3] The verb is Middle English countren, partly a shortening of acountren, encountren, encounter,[6][5][2] and partly from French contre “against”.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
The verb, to meet: about 1325 in the OED, now obsolete;[7] to meet in combat, to encounter: from 1330 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[7][6]
Semantic evolution
To act in opposition to, to oppose, is from 1382,[7] before 1397 in the Wycliffe Bible in Barnhart.[1] The adverb, in the opposite direction, is from about 1446, at first of hounds running counter to the game,[7][1] and in opposition, as in run counter to, from 1643.[7] The adjective, opposed or opposite, is from 1596, in Spenser's Faerie Queene.[1][7] In fencing a circular parry is from 1611,[7] and in boxing, a return blow is a counter by 1861,[7][6] with the verb, to give such a blow, also by 1861.[6] In chess, to answer with a countermove is from 1890.[7]
Timeline
- c. 1325 – verb, to meet.[7]
- 1382 – verb, to oppose.[7]
- c. 1446 – adverb, in the opposite direction.[7]
- 1596 – adjective.[1][7]
- 1611 – a parry in fencing.[7]
- 1643 – run counter to.[7]
- 1861 – in boxing.[7][6]
Modern meaning
Verb
- To act or speak against; to oppose.
- To answer or return a blow or move.
Adverb
- In the opposite way; contrary: run counter to.
Adjective
- Opposing; contrary.
Noun
- Something opposite or contrary.
- A return blow in boxing, or a circular parry in fencing.
Related words
- count
- compute
- encounter
- contra
Usage notes
Several minor nouns share the spelling: the back of a shoe round the heel (1841), short for counterfort;[7][3] the part of a horse's breast between the shoulders (1678) and the curved part of a ship's stern (1626), perhaps related to the “against” word.[7][3] Counter is also short for countertenor (1869).[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press