compte French · revision 17346

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (cunte)|origins=la computō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ̃t/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''compte''' ''m'' (plural comptes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|cunte]] and [[m|fro|conte]]; the etymological spelling ''compte'' appears in the later 13th century, and ''conte'' survived for this sense until the 17th.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|conte]], [[inh|la-lat|computus|t=calculation; reckoned amount; estimate]], from [[la|computō|t=to reckon]].^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 996b) The ⟨p⟩ was restored after the Latin in the 13th century, and the spelling “compte” was kept for reckoning while “conte”, of the same origin, was left for “story”; the verb “compter” was respelled in the same way.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ “Compte courant” (1675) is a calque of [[it|conto corrente]], recorded from 1447–1464.^(TLFi)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|conto]], [[es|cuenta]] and [[pt|conta]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As ''cunte'' it is found about 1100 in the ''Chanson de Roland'', meaning the reckoning of a number: ''Cinquante mille chevaliers ont par cunte'' (“they have fifty thousand knights by count”).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Wace (1155) has ''cunte rendre de'' “to give an explanation of”, and ''tenir conte de'' “to take into account” is found in 1220–1225.^(TLFi) The financial sense, a statement of receipts and spending, follows in the 13th century (''compe'', 1247, ''rendre compte'', 1262), and the ''chambre des comptes'', the court auditing royal finances, is named in 1309.^(TLFi)

+

+ Many phrases followed: ''fin de conte'' (about 1350), which became ''en fin de compte'' (Furetière, 1690); ''à bon compte'' “cheaply” (late 15th century); ''au bout du compte'' (Montaigne, 1595); ''trouver son compte'' “to find it to one's advantage” (Corneille, 1634); and ''régler ses comptes'' (before 1704, Bossuet).^(TLFi) ''Se rendre compte de'' “to realize” is recorded before 1710, in Fléchier.^(TLFi) The menacing ''son compte est bon'', recorded by the Académie in 1835, is found in 1794.^(BHVF)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Cunte'' “reckoning”, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1155 – ''Cunte rendre'' “to give an explanation”, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1247 – A statement of debit and credit.^(TLFi)

+ * later 13th century – The spelling ''compte''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1309 – ''Chambre des comptes''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1595 – ''Au bout du compte'' in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1675 – ''Compte courant'', after Italian.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''En fin de compte'' in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * before 1710 – ''Se rendre compte de''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|count]], a calculation; the total found: ''faire le compte des dépenses'', ''le compte est bon''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # What is owed or due to someone: ''le compte n'y est pas''.^(Larousse)

+ # An [[m|en|account]] (in a bank or with a firm): ''compte en banque'', ''compte courant''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A statement of receipts and spending: ''tenir les comptes''.^(Le Robert)^(TLFi)

+ # A user account (on a computer or website).^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Rendre compte de'': to report on, give an account of, ''se rendre compte de'': to [[m|en|realize]].^(TLFi)

+ # ''Tenir compte de'', ''prendre en compte'': to take into account.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''En fin de compte'', ''au bout du compte'', ''tout compte fait'': all things considered.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''À bon compte'': cheaply, ''pour le compte de'': on behalf of.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[compter]]

+ * [[conte]]

+ * [[la|computus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The ⟨p⟩ is not pronounced, in ''compte'' as in ''compter'', ''comptable'' and ''comptoir''.^(TLFi) ''Compte'', ''conte'' and ''comte'' are pronounced alike.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}