conte

English

Etymology

From Italian conte. Doublet of comes, comte, and count.

Noun

conte (plural contes)

1. An Italian count.

   Coordinate term: contessa

   • 1895 July 13, Charlotte M[ary] Yonge, “The Long Vacation”, in The Churchman: An Illustrated Weekly News-Magazine, volume LXXII, number 2 (whole 2634), New York, N.Y.: M. H. Mallory & Co., chapter XXVIII (Rocca Marina), page 52 (24), column 3:

     So she led the way through a marble hall, pillared in different colors, rich and rare, with portraits of ancient contes and contessas on the walls, up a magnificent stone stair with a carved balustrade, to a suite indeed, where, at the entrance, Sibby was found very happy at her welcome from Mrs. Mount, who was equally glad to receive a countrywoman.

   • 1986, Heather Graham Pozzessere, The Di Medici Bride, Silhouette Intimate Moments, →ISBN, page 130:

     “Aspirin. It will help you to sleep tonight if you have aches and pains, or cold clammy dreams about dead contes and contessas,” he teased.

   • 2006, Mark Lamster, Spalding’s World Tour: The Epic Adventure That Took Baseball Around the Globe—and Made It America’s Game, PublicAffairs™, →ISBN:

     The announcement of the game had put Florentine society “in a flurry,” and two thousand spectators—including enough contes and contessas to fill half the palaces of Florence—made the trip beyond the city limits to view the match.

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin comitem (the 'o' being stressed and the 'i' disappearing), accusative of comes (“companion”). Ultimately cognate to English count (nobility).

Noun

conte m (feminine contesa)

1. count (nobility); countess in the feminine sense.

Related terms

• vizconte
• condato

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin computus, or deverbal from contar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Noun

conte m (plural contes)

1. tale; story

   Synonym: rondalla

Derived terms

• conte d’indis
• contista

Further reading

• “conte” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “conte”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “conte” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “conte” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃t/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: compte, comptent, comptes, comte, comtes, content, contes

Etymology 1

French  Wikisource has original text related to this entry:

Catégorie:Contes

Wikisource ^fr

Inherited from Middle French conte, from Old French conte, compte, derived from the verb conter, compter, or from Latin computus. See compte.

Noun

conte m (plural contes)

1. tale; story

Derived terms

• conte de bonne femme
• conte de fées (“fairy-tale”)
• conte moral

Descendants

• → Japanese: コント (konto)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

conte

1. inflection of conter:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “conte”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Galician

Verb

conte

1. inflection of contar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkon.te/
• Rhymes: -onte
• Hyphenation: cón‧te

Etymology 1

From Latin comitem.

Noun

conte m (plural conti, feminine contessa)

1. count (rank)
2. earl

Related terms

• contado
• visconte

See also

• duca
• barone
• marchese

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

conte

1. plural of conta

Further reading

• conte in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• conte in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
• conte in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• conte in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• conte in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• conte in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• cento, tecno-

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkon.te/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkon.te/,

Noun

conte

1. vocative singular of contus

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *kunta (“vagina”), from Proto-Germanic *kuntǭ.

Noun

conte f

1. vagina, also generally sex organ

Descendants

• Dutch: kont

Further reading

• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “conte”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Middle English

Noun

conte

1. Alternative form of cunte

Middle French

Etymology 1

From Old French conte, compte.

Noun

conte f (plural contes)

1. story; tale; fable

Etymology 2

From Old French comte.

Noun

conte m (plural contes)

1. count (nobleman)

Descendants

• French: comte

Old French

Alternative forms

• cunte (all senses, Anglo-Norman)

Etymology 1

First attested circa 980 as compte. Deverbal of conter.

Noun

conte oblique singular, m (oblique plural contes, nominative singular contes, nominative plural conte)

1. story; tale; fable
2. count (record of a number or amount)
   • 12^th Century, Unknown, Raoul de Cambrai:

     Tant en asamble n'en sai conte tenir.

     He got together so many that I can't keep count

References

Etymology 2

See comte.

Noun

conte oblique singular, m (oblique plural contes, nominative singular cuens, nominative plural conte)

1. Alternative form of comte

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: con‧te

Verb

conte

1. inflection of contar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French comte.

Noun

conte m (plural conți, feminine equivalent contesă)

1. count, earl

Declension