conta

Forms

conta f (plural contas)^[1] Houaiss records the medieval spellings cõta (14th century) and comta (15th century).^[2] A text of 1256 has both cuntas and contas.^[3]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Portuguese contar (“to count”), first in the sense “counting, calculation”.^[2][4][5][6] The verb is from Latin computō (“to reckon, count”), itself formed from putō (“to reckon, think”).^[7][1]

The sense “bead” comes, as Gonçalves Viana explained, from the beads of the rosary, which were used to count the prayers as they were said.^[8][9] Its counterpart is Spanish cuenta, which Corominas treats under the verb contar.^[10]

Older writers derived the noun directly from Latin: Bluteau, after Venegas, from quanta or cuncta “all things together”, and Vieira from computus (“a reckoning”).^[11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the noun to the 13th century.^[2][4] Lorenzo's chronology cites a testament of 1256 with unas cuntas de cristallo et corallis “some beads of crystal and coral”, so the bead sense is among the oldest records.^[3] The troubadours used conta for a reckoning or tally: non aver conta “to have no count”, that is, to be endless.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval cantigas the word already meant the settling of wages and accounts, and per conta meant “exactly, in order”;^[3] fazer conta was “to render an account” and põer en gran conta “to hold in high esteem”.^[3] The Crónica Troiana has sen conta “without number”.^[3]

Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 renders conta by Latin ratio and calculus, and Bluteau gives phrases such as tomar as contas a alguem “to audit someone's accounts” and livro das contas “account book”.^[13][11] Morais adds dar contas “to give account of an administration”, pedir contas and ter em conta de amigo “to consider a friend”.^[14] Figueiredo records the plural contas for glass beads and the rosary, and a regional Alentejo saying about a kid's backbone.^[15] Modern senses include the bill, the bank account, the account in book-keeping and the client account of an advertising agency.^[2][5][6]

Timeline

• 1256 – cuntas and contas “beads” in a testament.^[3]
• 13th century – first records as “counting, reckoning”.^[2][4]
• 14th century – the spelling cõta;^[2] comta in the 15th century.^[2]
• c. 1400 – conta in the Flos Sanctorum fragment of Santiago de Compostela.^[16]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary heads the word Conta.^[13]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists lançar conta “to reckon up” and the diminutive continha.^[17]
• 1789 – Morais records dar contas and ter em conta de amigo.^[14]
• 1899 – Figueiredo defines the plural contas as beads or a rosary.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. counting, calculation: the act of counting (contar) or its result.^[2][5][6]
2. An arithmetic operation, a sum: Faz a conta de cabeça.^[2][5][1]
3. A bead, a small pierced piece of glass, stone, wood or other material threaded on a string;^[2][6][1] (in the plural) the beads of a rosary (rosário).^[2][6][1]
4. A bill, the sum to be paid in a restaurant, hotel or shop; a utility bill: a conta da luz.^[2][5][1]
5. A bank account; an account opened with a shop or a service.^[5][6][1]
6. (accounting) An account recording debits and credits of one kind.^[2][5]
7. (figurative) reputation, esteem: ter alguém em boa conta.^[2][5]
8. (figurative) responsibility: por conta de alguém “at someone's charge”.^[2][5]
9. Attention, regard; information, report, as in dar conta de “to report, to notice”.^[2]
10. (advertising) A contract with an agency, or the client it serves.^[2]

Word family

• conta-corrente

Related words

• contábil
• contabilidade
• contabilizar
• contado
• contador
• contadoria
• contagem
• conto
• contar
• computar
• Latin computō
• Spanish cuenta

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. conta
3. ^ a b c d e f g Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. conta
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. contar
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. conta
6. ^ a b c d e f Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. conta
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. contar
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 133
9. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. conta
10. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cuenta
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conta
12. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 449
13. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conta
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 317
15. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 337
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. conta
17. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conta