count Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the total number counted
    • a blood count
  2. noun the act of counting; reciting numbers in ascending order
    counting; tally; enumeration; reckoning; numeration.
    • the counting continued for several hours
  3. noun a nobleman (in various countries) having rank equal to a British earl
  4. verb determine the number or amount of
    numerate; number; enumerate.
    • Can you count the books on your shelf?
    • Count your change
  5. verb have weight; have import, carry weight
    matter; weigh.
    • It does not matter much
  6. verb show consideration for; take into account
    weigh; consider.
    • You must consider her age
    • The judge considered the offender's youth and was lenient
  7. verb name or recite the numbers in ascending order
    • The toddler could count to 100
  8. verb put into a group
    number.
    • The academy counts several Nobel Prize winners among its members
  9. verb include as if by counting
    • I can count my colleagues in the opposition
  10. verb have a certain value or carry a certain weight
    • each answer counts as three points
  11. verb have faith or confidence in
    depend; look; reckon; bet; calculate.
    • you can count on me to help you any time
    • Look to your friends for support
    • You can bet on that!
    • Depend on your family in times of crisis
  12. verb take account of
    reckon.
    • You have to reckon with our opponents
    • Count on the monsoon

WordNet

Count transitive verb
Etymology
OF. conter, and later (etymological spelling) compter, in modern French thus distinguished; conter to relate (cf. Recount, Account), compter to count; fr. L. computuare to reckon, compute; com- + putare to reckon, settle, order, prune, orig., to clean. See Pure, and cf. Compute.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Counted; present participle & verbal noun Counting
Definitions
  1. To tell or name one by one, or by groups, for the purpose of ascertaining the whole number of units in a collection; to number; to enumerate; to compute; to reckon.
    Who can count the dust of Jacob? Num. xxiii. 10.
    In a journey of forty miles, Avaux counted only three miserable cabins. Macaulay.
  2. To place to an account; to ascribe or impute; to consider or esteem as belonging.
    Abracham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Rom. iv. 3.
  3. To esteem; to account; to reckon; to think, judge, or consider.
    I count myself in nothing else so happy As in a soul remembering my good friends. Shak.
    Syn. -- To calculate; number; reckon; compute; enumerate. See Calculate.
Count intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To number or be counted; to possess value or carry weight; hence, to increase or add to the strength or influence of some party or interest; as, every vote counts; accidents count for nothing.
    This excellent man . . . counted among the best and wisest of English statesmen. J. A. Symonds.
  2. To reckon; to rely; to depend; -- with on or upon.
    He was brewer to the palace; and it was apprehended that the government counted on his voice. Macaulay.
    I think it a great error to count upon the genius of a nation as a standing argument in all ages. Swift.
  3. To take account or note; -- with of. Obs. "No man counts of her beauty." Shak.
  4. (Eng. Law) To plead orally; to argue a matter in court; to recite a count. Burrill.
Count noun
Etymology
F. conte and compte, with different meanings, fr. L. computus a computation, fr. computare. See Count, v. t.
Definitions
  1. The act of numbering; reckoning; also, the number ascertained by counting.
    Of blessed saints for to increase the count. Spenser.
    By this count, I shall be much in years. Shak.
  2. An object of interest or account; value; estimation. Obs. "All his care and count." Spenser.
  3. (Law) A formal statement of the plaintiff's case in court; in a more technical and correct sense, a particular allegation or charge in a declaration or indictment, separately setting forth the cause of action or prosecution. Wharton. ✍ In the old law books, count was used synonymously with declaration. When the plaintiff has but a single cause of action, and makes but one statement of it, that statement is called indifferently count or declaration, most generally, however, the latter. But where the suit embraces several causes, or the plaintiff makes several different statements of the same cause of action, each statement is called a count, and all of them combined, a declaration. Bouvier. Wharton.
Count noun
Etymology
F. conte, fr. L. comes, comitis, associate, companion, one of the imperial court or train, properly, one who goes with another; com- + ire to go, akin to Skr. i to go.
Definitions
  1. A nobleman on the continent of Europe, equal in rank to an English earl. ✍ Though the tittle Count has never been introduced into Britain, the wives of Earls have, from the earliest period of its history, been designated as Countesses. Brande & C.

Webster 1913