Etymologically
Log in

contare

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 21:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /konˈta.re/[1]

Forms

contare (first-person singular present cónto, first-person singular past historic contài, past participle contàto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old Italian and dialect forms include Old Italian chontare, Old Italian cuntari in Sicily, and the northern Old Italian cointare, which the LEI explains by crossing with Latin cognitus or by metathesis.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin computō (“to reckon, count”), with the loss of the unstressed middle vowel.[4][5][6][1] The Latin verb is formed from putō (“to reckon, think; to prune”) with con-.[4][5][7] The learned computare and compitare “to spell out” are doublets.[1][5]

The verb lives on in all the Romance languages except Romanian: French compter and French conter, Occitan comtar, Catalan contar, Spanish contar, Portuguese contar, and Dalmatian computà.[5][8][3] The sense “to tell, narrate” grew early from “to enumerate, give an account”; only French keeps the two meanings apart in spelling.[5] DEI compares German zählen (“to count”) beside erzählen (“to tell”).[9]

The intransitive use “to rely on”, with the preposition su, is a calque of the French construction with sur.[10][11] Some technical compounds are calques of French as well: contagocce follows French compte-gouttes and contagiri compte-tours, and contatore “meter” probably compteur.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record to the second half of the 12th century; the TLIO's first is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur, which the LEI dates to the last quarter of that century.[7][2][3] DELI's first record is the Elegia giudeo-italiana (12th–13th century): Chi poe contare l'altri tormenti (“who could count the other torments”).[4][12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used contare for counting and calculating, for including in a reckoning (Chiaro Davanzati, 13th century), for paying out money, and for telling and narrating (Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250).[4][2] The Florentine banking phrase denari contanti “ready money” probably spread from Florence, and French deniers comptants is recorded from 1265.[3] Contante “cash” is in Dino Compagni (1310–1312).[4]

The intransitive senses are modern: “to be worth something, to matter” in 1750, and “to rely on, intend” in a Milanese text of 1804.[4] The sense “to tell” survives in familiar speech, as in contarla and contarle grosse “to tell tall stories”.[13][14]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 12th century – Contare is first recorded.[7]
  • Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses it for telling, narrating.[4]
  • 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses it for including in a reckoning.[4]
  • 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses contante.[4]
  • 1750 – Intransitive contare “to matter” is recorded.[4]
  • 1804 – Contare “to rely on, intend” is recorded in a Milanese text.[4]
  • 1892 – Contagocce is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To count, number one by one to find how many there are: Ho contato le sedie: ne mancano tre.[7][15][14]
  2. (intransitive) To say the numbers in order; to do simple sums: Sa contare fino a cento.[7][15]
  3. (transitive) To dole out sparingly: Gli contano persino le caramelle.[7][15][13]
  4. (transitive) To include, take into account: Saremo dodici, senza contare i bambini.[7][15][14]
  5. (transitive) To have, number: Il paese conta duemila abitanti.[7][14]
  6. (transitive, boxing) To count out a fallen boxer.[7][11]
  7. (transitive) To intend, expect: Conto di partire lunedì.[13][11]
  8. (transitive, familiar) To tell, relate: contare storie.[7][14][13]
  9. (intransitive) To matter, be important or influential: Suo zio è una persona che conta in città.[14][1]
  10. (intransitive) contare su: to rely on: Contiamo sul vostro aiuto.[11][1]

Word family

  • conto
  • conta
  • contante
  • contata
  • contatore
  • conteggiare
  • conteggio
  • raccontare
  • scontare
  • contagocce
  • contachilometri
  • contagiri
  • contasecondi
  • contarsela
  • contarsi
  • computare
  • compitare
  • contabile
  • contabilità
  • Latin computō

Usage notes

Contabile and contabilità are not Italian formations but French comptable and comptabilité.[4] Set phrases include si contano sulle dita “they can be counted on the fingers”, contare i giorni “to wait impatiently”, and contare le pecore to fall asleep.[15][13][16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 761
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1073
  10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1074
  11. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  13. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  15. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli