conto

Forms

conto m (plural conti)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin computus (“calculation, reckoning”), through a spoken Latin form *contus.^[2][3][4][1] DEI and GDLI instead treat it as a noun formed in Italian from the verb contare, and DELI discusses it under that verb.^[5][6][7] Italian also has the learned doublets computo and compito.^[1]

The Latin noun comes from computō (“to calculate”), made of com- and putō (“to prune; to reckon”).^[1][8] De Vaan explains that verb as first meaning “to prune a tree”, whence “to ponder, to reckon”, and derives it from the adjective putus (“pure, clean”).^[8]

The same word is French compte, Occitan compte, Catalan compte, Spanish cuento and Portuguese conto.^[9] The Spanish form was borrowed into Old Sicilian as cuntu “million” in the 16th century; modern Sicilian cuntu d'ova is a count of 240 eggs.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Brunetto Latini's Rettorica, about 1260–1261, in Florentine, for the act or result of counting, any arithmetical operation.^[10][2] DELI dates the word before 1294, also from Brunetto Latini.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian had phrases such as per conto “exactly in number” and senza conto “countless”.^[10] The accounting sense, a record of debit and credit, appears in the Datini archive in 1372;^[7] the sense “esteem, regard” is in a 14th-century Italian version of Saint Augustine, “calculation, plan” in Savonarola before 1498, and “advantage, profit” in Machiavelli before 1527.^[7]

From the same date a second noun conto, from contare “to tell”, meant a tale or account; it is now literary.^[10][3] Ariosto writes “anzi che cominciasse il conto intero” (before she began the whole story).^[6]

The accounting term passed into German as Konto at the end of the 15th century,^[11] and into Czech, Danish, Swedish and other languages.^[1] Modern Italian uses it for a restaurant bill, a bank account (conto corrente) and a user account online.^[3][12] Conto alla rovescia is the countdown before a launch, and figuratively before any awaited event.^[4][13]

Timeline

• About 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses conto in his Rettorica.^[10]
• 14th century – The sense “esteem” appears.^[7]
• 1372 – The accounting sense appears in the Datini archive.^[7][11]
• Late 15th century – German borrows the word as Konto.^[11]
• Before 1498 – Savonarola uses it for a plan or calculation.^[7]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses it for advantage.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A calculation, a sum: Ho rifatto il conto due volte.^[3][4][14]
2. (accounting) An account, a record of debits and credits.^[3][14][13]
3. A bill, the amount due for goods or services: Il conto dell'albergo era salatissimo.^[3][14][1]
4. A bank account: conto corrente.^[3][1]
5. Interest, advantage, per conto di, on behalf of.^[3][1]
6. Esteem, importance: una persona di poco conto.^[14][7]
7. A user account on a website.^[12]

Word family

• acconto
• rendiconto
• resoconto
• tornaconto
• scontare

Related words

• contare
• computo
• compito
• Latin computus

Usage notes

Common phrases include rendersi conto “to realize”, tenere conto di “to take into account”, fare i conti con “to reckon with” and in fin dei conti “after all”.^[3][4][1] Old Italian also had an adjective conto “known, familiar”, from Old French cointe and Latin cognitus, recorded from the late 12th century in Venetian;^[10][4][6] Dante has “Fammiti conto o per luogo o per nome” (make yourself known to me by place or by name).^[10][4][6] A second adjective conto “graceful, adorned” is referred to Latin comptus and is found in Giacomo da Lentini; the LEI notes that the two adjectives are hard to tell apart.^[10][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1077
6. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it