counter

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkaʊn.tɚ/ UK /ˈkaʊn.tə/ See IPA manual

Freq #4136

Meanings

1

noun
A long, flat surface in a shop, kitchen, or bank where people are served.

She paid for her groceries at the counter.
2

noun
A small object, often a disc, used for counting or as a marker in games.

He moved his counter forward six spaces on the board.
3

verb
To reply or react in order to oppose something.

She countered his argument with some convincing facts.
4

adv
In the opposite direction to something.

His decision ran counter to everyone's advice.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms counteredcounteringcounters

Derived forms anticounterbean-countercounterfulcounterhandcounterjumpercounterlesscounterlikecountermancounterpersoncountersidecountertopcounterwoman

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Idioms (1)

See all

over the counter
obtainable without a prescription or other formal authorization

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English countour, from Old French conteor (French comptoir), from Medieval Latin computātōrium, from Latin computō, equivalent to count + -er. Doublet of cantore, computer, and kontor.

countour Middle English conteor Old French computātōrium la-med computō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# counter

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb, adv
**IPA (US):** /ˈkaʊn.tɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkaʊn.tə/
**Frequency rank:** 4136

## Meanings
1. A long, flat surface in a shop, kitchen, or bank where people are served.
2. A small object, often a disc, used for counting or as a marker in games.
3. To reply or react in order to oppose something.
4. In the opposite direction to something.

## Examples
- She paid for her groceries at the counter.
- He moved his counter forward six spaces on the board.
- She countered his argument with some convincing facts.
- His decision ran counter to everyone's advice.

## Derived Forms
- anticounter
- bean-counter
- counterful
- counterhand
- counterjumper
- counterless
- counterlike
- counterman
- counterperson
- counterside
- countertop
- counterwoman

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: countour
- Root: conteor
- Root: computātōrium
- Root: computō

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English countour, from Old French conteor (French comptoir), from Medieval Latin computātōrium, from Latin computō, equivalent to count + -er. Doublet of cantore, computer, and kontor.

## AI Etymology
counter is inherited from Middle English countour, from Old French conteor (French comptoir), from Medieval Latin computātōrium, from Latin computō, equivalent to count + -er. Doublet of cantore, computer, and kontor. The historical chain includes Middle English countour, Old French conteor, la-med computātōrium, Latin computō. Current senses include A long, flat surface in a shop, kitchen, or bank where people are served and A small object, often a disc, used for counting or as a marker in games. English relatives and later formations include anticounter, bean-counter, counterful.

## Topics
- People & Society

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