compte

Compte is a French noun with several related, but distinct meanings. The most common sense is an account or ledger, as in un compte bancaire (a bank account) or un compte rendu (a report of proceedings). It also appears in business terms such as grand compte (a major corporate client) and in accounting language as a ledger entry or balance. As a verb form, compte is also the third-person singular of compter, meaning he/she counts or he/she accounts. Fixed expressions include tenir compte de (to take into account) and compte tenu de (considering that).

Etymology and related forms are split between two historically distinct words that happen to share a spelling in modern French. The noun compte (account, tally) and the related verb compter derive from Old French compter, itself from Latin computare, meaning to reckon or calculate, via a root focused on counting and calculation. In contrast, comte, without the p, is a noble title (count) and is linked to comes in Latin; comté refers to a county or domain ruled by a comte. These terms are etymologically separate despite their close spelling, and are distinguished in writing: compte versus comte/comté.

Usage notes and variants help avoid confusion. In everyday language, compte is used for financial and numerical contexts, and in various compound phrases such as compte courant (current account) and compte épargne (savings account). The word comte appears when referring to nobility or geography (le comté de Paris). In modern French, the distinction is clear from context and spelling, even though homophony may occur in some speech.