Meanings
compt1
comparative more compt · superlative most compt
- obsoleteNeat; spruce.
A compt, accomplished prince.
1623, John Vicars, Æneid2 more examples
who is not much more carefull of the grace of his head, than of his health? who maketh not more account to be compt, than to be honest?
1600, George Abbot, An exposition upon the prophet Jonah, page 592And my wife will be jocund, feat, compt, neat, quaint, dainty, trim, tricked up, brisk, smirk, and smug, […]
1904, Thomas Urguhart, transl., Master Francis Rabelais: Five Books Of The Lives, Heroic Deeds And Sayings Of Gargantua And His Son Pantagruel, published 1693, page 109
compt2
- obsoleteAccount; reckoning; computation.
Your servants ever have theirs,/Themselves and what is theirs, in compt, /To make their audit at your highness' pleasure, /Still to return your own.
c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)1 more example
it would be difficult for a youth of his age to follow the expositions of a practical lawyer, concerning actions of compt and reckoning, and of multiple-poindings, and adjudication and wadsets, proper and improper, and poindings of the ground and declarations of expiry of the legal.
1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC
compt3
present singular third person compts · participle present compting · participle past compted · past compted
- obsoleteTo compute; to count or consider.
The gyftes of fortune compt the, as borowed ware Who so delyteth to prouen and assaye
a. 1535, Thomas More, Lady Fortune2 more examples
For some were warded in the Pittie-vault, some set caution to remove from the town, after they had compted and reckoned for their tavernry with their mistresses; […]
1792, John Spalding, The History of the Troubles and Memorable Transactions in Scotland, page 340So shall my ryghteousnes aunswere for me in time to come: for it shal come for my rewarde before thy face. And euery one that is not specked and partie amongst the goates, & blacke amongst the sheepe, let it be compted theft in me.
1568, Bishops' Bible, Genesis 30:33
compt4
plural compts
- abbreviationAbbreviation of comptroller.
- abbreviationAbbreviation of compliment.
Origin
compt · adjective
- Latincomptus
- Englishcompt
From Latin comptus, past participle of comere (“to care for, comb, arrange, adorn”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
compt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compt
“compt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compt. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “compt,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compt.
Source: compt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.