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comté

Etymology and origin of the French word comté

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
early 12th century, Laws of William the Conqueror

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɔ̃.te/[1]

Forms

comté m (plural comtés)[1] Anglo-Norman cunté (early 12th century), conté (1155), comté (15th century, Froissart).[2][3]

Etymology

It is derived from comte with the suffix “-é”, compare Medieval Latin comitātus (“territory governed by a count”) (779), also “law court” (about 980), which may have served as the model.[2][3][4][5]

Its gender long wavered: it was feminine from about 1174 until the 19th century, which Bloch and Wartburg put down to the abstract nouns in “-té” (“bonté”, “parenté”) and the TLFi also to confusion between the suffixes “-é” and “-eé”; the TLFi finds a direct origin in “conteé”, as the FEW suggests, improbable.[2][4][6] Compare Italian contado, Spanish condado and Old Occitan comtat.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Laws of William the Conqueror (early 12th century) cunté is, in England, a law court under a sheriff or viscount.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Wace's Brut (1155) a conté is the domain ruled by a count, still in England; this feudal sense became a territory that gave its owner the title of count.[2][3] The feminine survives in the name Franche-Comté.[3][6]

From the late 18th century, after English county (1411), itself from Old French, it has named an administrative division in English-speaking countries: in Canada from 1764–1792, in England from 1845.[3][2][8] In Canadian French it is institutional, notably for an electoral district.[3][9]

Timeline

  • Early 12th century – Cunté “law court”.[2]
  • 1155 – Conté “domain of a count”, in Wace.[2]
  • c. 1174 – Feminine, in Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.[2]
  • 15th century – The spelling comté in Froissart.[2]
  • 1792 – A Canadian county.[2]
  • 1845 – English counties.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (history) A domain that gave its holder the title of count; a county, earldom: le comté de Flandre.[9][6]
  2. A county (in Britain and other English-speaking countries).[9][6]
  3. (Canada) A county; an electoral district, riding.[9][1]

Usage notes

Comté is also the name of a hard cheese made in Franche-Comté, taken in the 20th century from the name of the province.[9][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 940b
  6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Comté.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/comt%C3%A9. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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