count

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To say numbers in order.

   The little boy can already count to one hundred.

2. 2
   verb

   To find out how many of something there are.

   Can you count the books on the shelf?

3. 3
   verb

   To rely on or trust someone.

   You can count on me to help you any time.

4. 4
   verb

   To be important or matter.

   In this job, your experience really counts.

5. 5
   noun

   The total number you get when you count something.

   The final count showed nearly five hundred votes.

Common collocations

• final count Adjective + noun
• lose count Verb + noun
• official count Adjective + noun
• rough count Adjective + noun
• keep count Verb + noun

From Middle English counten, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conter, from Old French conter (“add up; tell a story”), from Latin computō (“to compute”). In this sense, displaced native Old English tellan, whence Modern English tell. Doublet of compute. Compare typologically reckon, Russian счита́ть (sčitátʹ), счита́ться (sčitátʹsja); the semantic evolution to Mongolian санах (sanax).

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