conter

Forms

conter^[1] Old French cunter, conter; the same word as compter, whose etymological spelling was kept for counting from the 15th century.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman forms include cunter and counter.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French conter, inherited from Latin computō (“to calculate, reckon”),^[1][5][6][7] the source of compter too; the two were one verb until the meaning “calculate” was given to the spelling with ⟨mp⟩, modelled on the Latin.^[2][3] The TLFi instead treats the verb as taken from the Latin verb, which medieval Latin used in the sense “narrate” from 906.^[8] It is preceded by Old Occitan comptar in the Passion poem of the early 11th century.^[8][2]

The Latin verb is formed com- and putō (“to prune, reckon”).^[9][10] The sense passed from counting to telling through the idea of listing events one by one,^[2][8] as with German zählen (“to count”) beside erzählen (“to tell”).^[3]

Cognate with Italian contare, Spanish contar, Portuguese contar and Catalan contar.^[11] It is a doublet of computer.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from 1080 in the Chanson de Roland in the sense “to relate”: Et Blancardin pour la raison conter “and Blancardin to tell the message”.^[2][12][11] The TLFi's first record is a paraphrase of the Song of Songs of 1125–1130.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The old sense, to relate real events by listing them, survives in literary use and some regional speech.^[2][13] From the end of the 16th century the verb also meant to tell untrue things in order to deceive, mainly in phrases: en conter de belles (1595), en conter (1606) and, of wooing, en conter à une femme (1637) and conter fleurette (1667).^[8][2] The sense “tell an invented story to amuse” is found in La Fontaine in 1671, but in modern speech it has largely passed to raconter.^[8][2]

Anglo-Norman conter meant both “to count” and “to tell”, and in law to state the plaintiff's case.^[4] English count comes from it.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Old Occitan comptar is recorded.^[2]
• 1080 – Conter appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][12]
• 1125–1130 – First record in the TLFi, in a paraphrase of the Song of Songs.^[8]
• 1595 – Montaigne writes en conter de belles.^[8]
• 1606 – Nicot records en compter à quelqu'un.^[8]
• 1637 – Corneille uses en conter for courting a woman.^[8][2]
• 1667 – Conter des fleurettes in Molière's Le Sicilien.^[8]
• 1671 – La Fontaine uses it for telling an invented tale to amuse.^[8][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated or regional) To relate, narrate events in detail: il nous a conté son voyage.^[13][8]
2. To tell a story, especially an invented one, to amuse: conter une histoire aux enfants.^[13][6]
3. Conter fleurette: to woo, to whisper sweet nothings.^[13][2]
4. (dated) To tell something untrue in order to deceive: en conter à quelqu'un, also il ne s'en laisse pas conter “he is not easily fooled”.^[13][5]

Word family

• conte
• conteur
• raconter

Related words

• compter
• computer
• Latin computō
• English count

Usage notes

Conter is a homophone of compter and comté.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 992a
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
11. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
12. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
13. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert