| 释义 |
† ˈcountour, -or Obs.
[An earlier form of counter n.2, AF. countour, as an official title.]
1. Eng. Hist. An accountant; an officer who appears to have assisted in early times in collecting or auditing the county dues.
[1292Britton ii. xxi. §3 Ou seignurs, ou counseillers, ou countours.] 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 538 Vor as he huld this hundred..Adam of Arderne was is chef countour. c1386Chaucer Prol. 359 A ffrankeleyn was in his compaignye..At sessions ther was he lord and sire fful ofte tyme he was knyght of the shire..A shirreue hadde he been and Countour. c1400Rom. Rose 6814 Bailifs, bedels, provost, countours; These lyven wel nygh by ravyne.
2. Law. An ancient term for a legal pleader, or serjeant-at-law; cf. count v. 11.
[1275Act 3 Edw. I, c. 24 Si nul serjaunt, Contour, ou autre face nul manere deceyte ou collusion en la Court le Rey.] c1325Poem on Edw. II, 342 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 339 And countours in benche that stondeth at the barre. 1614Selden Titles Hon. 292 A Countour was (if I am not deceiu'd) a Sergeant at Law, known also then by both names. 1628Coke On Litt. 17 a. 1641Termes de la Ley 92 Countours by M. Horne, are such Sergeants skilfull in the Law of the Realme, which serve the common people to pronounce and defend their Actions in judgement for their fee. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 24. 1861 Riley tr. Liber Albus 42 The Common Serjeant-at-law, who is otherwise called the ‘Common Countor’. 1863H. Cox Instit. ii. iii. 373 note. |