conte

Forms

conte m (plural contes)^[1] Old French conte and compte;^[1][2] Anglo-Norman also had cunte and counte.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from French conter, as a deverbal noun.^[3][4][5][6] The verb, Old French conter, was at first the same word as compter: both continue Latin computō (“to calculate”), which medieval Latin texts already use for “to narrate”, the link between the two senses being the idea of listing things one by one.^[5][6] The spelling with ⟨mp⟩ was later kept for counting and ⟨n⟩ for telling, a split that was settled only in the 17th century.^[5] Wiktionary also allows a direct origin in Latin computus (“calculation”).^[1]

Cognate with Occitan conte, Spanish cuento and Italian conto.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace uses it about 1130–1140 in his poem on the Conception of Our Lady for an account of true events.^[3][5] The sense “story told for entertainment” is found by the end of the 12th century in Jean Bodel's Saxons and about 1200 in Jean Renart's Escoufle.^[3]

Semantic evolution

For a long time conte meant any narrative of real things, a use still met in 20th-century writers who like old words.^[5][3] In the 16th and 17th centuries, following the verb, it took the unfavourable sense of a story made up to deceive (1538), as in conte en l'air (Molière, 1664) and contes bleus (1664), probably named after the tales of the blue-covered Bibliothèque bleue.^[3][6][5]

The sense of a short tale of imaginary adventures, meant to amuse or teach, has become the main one, with conte de fées “fairy tale”.^[8][3]

Timeline

• 1130–1140 – Wace uses conte for an account of true events.^[3]
• Late 12th century – Jean Bodel uses it for a tale of adventure told for entertainment.^[3]
• c. 1200 – Jean Renart's Escoufle has the same sense.^[3]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records the sense “story told to deceive”.^[3][9]
• 1664 – Conte en l'air and contes bleus appear in Molière.^[3][6]
• 1732 – Last record of the sense “account of real facts” cited by the TLFi.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) An account of real events, a narrative.^[8][3]
2. A short tale of imaginary adventures, told to entertain or to teach: lire un conte à sa fille, conte de fées “fairy tale”.^[8][3]
3. (dated or literary) An unlikely or untrue story, a fib: conte à dormir debout, conte bleu.^[8][3]

Related words

• conter
• compte
• compter
• raconter
• conteur
• Latin computō

Usage notes

Conte sounds the same as compte and comte.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse