Dictionary

countify en · VERB

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin computō Anglo-Norman counterbor. Middle English counten English count Latin -i- Proto-Italic *-fakos Latin -ficus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -ficō Latin -ificāreder. Old French -ifierbor. Middle English -ifien English -ify English countify From count + -ify.

Meanings

1. (rare, transitive) To use as a count noun.
   • Any stuff for which there are standard portions used for whatever purposes will immediately become countified: three beers, an ice cream, an entertainment, etc. 1989, Francis Jeffry Pelletier, Lenhart K. Schubert, “Mass Expressions”, in Dov M. Gabbay, F. Guenthner, editors, Handbook of Philosophical Logic, Second Edition, volume 10, Springer, published 2003, →ISBN:
   • We can, for instance, “countify” mass nouns which come to be associated with a standard counter or container. […] Also in distinguishing some particular kind or type of the mass noun substance (by a limiting modifier of some kind), it is possible to readily countify: […] 1965, Robert P. Stockwell, Jean Donald Bowen, and John Watson Martin, The Grammatical Structures of English and Spanish, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 81:
   • 1992, James F. Allen and Lenhart K. Schubert, “Language and Discourse in the TRAINS Project”, in Andrew Ortony, John Slack, and Oliviero Stock (editors), Communication From an Artificial Intelligence Perspective: Theoretical and Applied Issues, NATO ASI Series F: Computer and Systems Sciences, Volume 100, Springer, →ISBN, page 104, Under deviant vocabulary we include “verbing” of nouns (He tricycled away), and perhaps “massifying” of count nouns and “countifying” of mass nouns. (Note that the preceding sentence itself contains instances of deviant vocabulary in scare quotes.) “Massifying” and “countifying” are illustrated respectively by A year ago they started digging the hole for his house; A year later, there's still more hole than house; and How many orange juice will that give us?.

Forms

Relateds

countification · massify