cuenta

Forms

cuenta f (plural cuentas)^[1] Old Spanish also wrote quenta, cunta and conta.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Spanish contar, meaning “the act of counting”.^[4][5][6][7] Corominas notes that this derivative exists only in Castilian and in Portuguese conta.^[4] The verb continues Latin computō (“to calculate”), itself formed from putō (“to reckon”).^[4][5][1]

The sense “bead” comes from the beads of the rosary, which were used to keep count of the prayers said.^[8][5][9] cuento has a separate source, the Latin noun for “calculation”, and cómputo and computar are learned doublets of the same Latin family.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is in the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140), where the Cid's men are busy en cuenta de sus averes “counting their goods” (verse 101).^[6][10] The poem also uses it to stress a great number: the Moors that are killed non son en cuenta “are past counting” (verse 918), and por cuenta means “exactly, in full number” (verse 1264).^[10][3] The CDH's earliest hit under the lemma, in the Cid, is a different word, cueta (the Old Spanish form of cuita “trouble”).^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the Fuero de Zorita (1218–c. 1250) the old judge must dar cuenta “give account” to the new one.^[11] The Libro de buen amor has the commercial sense and the plural cuentas for the rosary;^[12] Corominas dates the bead sense to 1330.^[3][5][4]

Covarrubias in 1611 defined cuenta as “the reckoning of each thing”, recorded the beads for praying, tener cuenta “to pay heed”, and proverbs such as hacer cuenta sin la huéspeda “to reckon without one's host” and a cuentas viejas, barajas nuevas.^[12] The Diccionario de Autoridades gave the written account with its charge and discharge, and the fixed number of threads or stitches that a cloth or a stocking must have.^[13] The Academy in 1817 added that any threaded bead could be called cuenta, and recorded the milk-white cuentas de leche that women wore in the belief that they brought on milk.^[14] The bank account is the DLE's fourth sense.^[9]

In 1855 Baralt objected to darse cuenta de “to realise” as a French turn of phrase.^[15] In the Americas the beads appear first: in 1513 in Puerto Rico, among goods for trading with the native people.^[16] Regional senses include the score of a match in Chile, a herd of cattle in rural Ecuador and “care” in rural Puerto Rico.^[17][18]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has cuenta “counting”.^[6][5]
• 1218–c. 1250 – the Fuero de Zorita has dar cuenta “to render account”.^[11]
• 1330 – the bead sense, in Juan Ruiz's Libro de buen amor.^[5][4]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin ratio, calculus and computatio as its equivalents.^[19]
• 1513 – the first record in the Americas, beads for trading in Puerto Rico.^[16]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records the proverb hacer cuenta sin la huéspeda.^[12]
• 1817 – the Academy records cuentas de leche.^[14]
• 1855 – Baralt condemns darse cuenta de as a Gallicism.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of counting; a count, tally: Perdí la cuenta de las vueltas.^[9][1]
2. A calculation, an arithmetical operation: Hizo la cuenta con lápiz.^[9][20][1]
3. A bill or written statement of items to be added or subtracted; a tab at a bar.^[9][20][1]
4. An account with a bank or other financial institution.^[9][1]
5. The fixed number of threads that a fabric must have for its quality.^[9]
6. An explanation or justification that one owes for something: No tiene que dar cuenta de sus gastos.^[9]
7. A bead of the rosary, used to count the prayers said; any bead threaded for a necklace.^[9][1]
8. Responsibility, charge: Eso corre de mi cuenta.^[9]
9. Consideration, attention.^[9]
10. Benefit, advantage.^[9]
11. (disused) Number, amount.^[9]
12. (Chile, sports) The score of a match.^[17]

Word family

• cuentagotas
• cuentakilómetros
• cuentacorrentista
• cuentadante

Related words

• contar
• cuento
• cómputo
• Portuguese conta

Usage notes

Darse cuenta de “to realise”, caer en la cuenta “to see the point” and tener en cuenta “to bear in mind” are among the many set phrases.^[1][9] An obsolete cuenta “the pole that holds up a tent” is a different word: the Diccionario de Autoridades derived it from Latin contus “pole”, and the DRAE of 2001 equates it with cuento “prop”.^[13][21]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. cuenta
3. ^ a b c Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 156
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 180
5. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. contar
6. ^ a b c Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 829
7. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 205
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. cuenta
10. ^ a b Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. cuenta
11. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. cuenta
12. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 506
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 680
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real
15. ^ a b Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 193
16. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. cuenta
17. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. cuenta
18. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr
19. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 322
20. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cuenta
21. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. cuenta