Count | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Count, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. COUNTED; p. pr. & vb. n. COUNTING.] [Fr. conter, compter, Pr. comptar, Sp. & Pg. contar, It. contare, from Lat. computare, to reckon, to compute, q. v.]

Sense 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.

Some people in America counted their years by the coming of certain birds among them at certain seasons, and leaving them at others. Locke.

Sense 2. To place to an account; to ascribe or impute; to consider or esteem as belonging to one; to ascribe; to esteem; to reckon.

Nor shall I count it heinous to enjoy The public marks of honor and reward Conferred upon me. Milton.

I count myself in nothing else so happy As in a soul remembering my good friends. Shak.

Synonyms—To calculate; number; reckon; compute; enumerate. See CALCULATE.

Count, v. i.

verbintransitive

To number or be counted; hence, to increase or add to the strength or influence, as of some party or interest; as, every additional one counts.
To found an account or scheme; to reckon; to rely; — followed by on or upon.

One name excited considerable alarm — that of Michael Arnold. He was brewer to the palace; and it was apprehended that the government counted on his voice. Macaulay. 3. (Eng. Law.) To plead orally; to argue a matter in court; to recite a count. Burrill.

Count, n.

noun

n. [Fr. & Pr. conte and compte, It. conto, còmputo, Sp. cuento, cuenta, còmputo, Lat. computus, from computare. See supra.]

Sense 1. The act of numbering, or the amount ascertained by numbering; reckoning.

Of blessed saints for to increase the count. Spencer.

By this count, I shall be much in years. Shak.

Sense 2. Esteem. “The one is painted, and the other out of all count.” Shak.

Sense 3. (Law.) A formal statement of the plaintiff’s case in court; a declaration, particularly in a real action; a particular allegation or charge in a declaration or indictment, formally setting forth the cause of action or complaint. 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, n.

noun

n. [Fr. comte, Pr. coms, It. conte, Sp. & Pg. conde, from Lat. comes, comitis, associate, companion, one of the imperial court or train, properly, one who goes with another, from con and ire, to go.] A nobleman on the continent of Europe, equal in rank to an English earl.