Carlos asked about the relationship among the words recount, account, and discount. In all cases, the concept of enumerating or calculating is involved.
- Account represents a reckoning, and money is usually involved. Eventually, it evolved into a statement explaining one’s actions, whether or not money was involved—in effect, any report or a narrative.
- Recount can be a synonym for account: a narrative; or, as a verb, to enumerate what happened. Recount can also mean to count for a second time. Some commentators would like to see that meaning spelled as re-count.
- Discount is a reduction from an amount already determined.
Basically, the –count segment is rather transparent: to enumerate, to calculate, to describe point by point. The word part came into English through the French, but the grandparent was Latin.
A county was the domain of a count, but neither word involved enumeration. Instead, they came from French/Latin words meaning an escort or retinue, since that’s one of the ways they served their monarch.
Available from McFarland & Co.: Word Parts Dictionary, 2nd edition
Check out Mike's program-based books here:
Amazon.com
Listen to Mike’s program in real time every Tuesday morning, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. EST, by going to wtcmradio.com and clicking on Listen Now.
There is a collection of podcasts. Go to wtcmradio.com and click on Podcasts. Scroll down The Ron Jolly Show to find the Words to the Wise audio button.
No comments:
Post a Comment