What does countable mean?
"Countable" is an adjective describing things that can be counted as individual, separate units. It appears most often in two technical settings. In language teaching and linguistics, a countable noun is one that names discrete items and therefore has a plural form and can follow a number — 'three books', 'many chairs'. Its counterpart, the uncountable (or mass) noun, names a substance or abstract quantity treated as an undivided whole, such as 'water' or 'furniture' in some analyses. In mathematics, a set is countable if its elements can be matched one-to-one with the natural numbers, a concept that famously allows some infinite sets, like the integers, to be 'counted' while others cannot. Outside these domains the word rarely appears in everyday conversation, but it is indispensable for learners of English, who must master the distinction to use articles and plurals correctly.
adjectiveAble to be counted; in grammar, describing a noun that has a form which can be pluralized or preceded by a number because it denotes individually distinct units.
- (especially of nouns) able to be counted individually; having both singular and plural forms.
- Capable of being counted or enumerated generally, as in mathematics where a set is countable if its elements can be put into one-to-one correspondence with the natural numbers.
"In English, 'chair' is a countable noun, so you can speak of one chair or several chairs."
"Students often confuse countable and uncountable nouns when learning English."
"The set of integers is countable, even though it is infinite."
In mathematics, there are different sizes of infinity — and the smallest ones are exactly the countable sets.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of countable
"Countable" derives from "count", which entered Middle English from Old French "conter" or "compter", ultimately from the Latin verb "computare", meaning to calculate, formed from "com-" (together) plus "putare" (to reckon or think). The suffix "-able", borrowed from Latin-derived French, turns the verb into an adjective meaning 'capable of being counted'. Related words sharing this Latin root include "compute", "account", and "dispute" (from "putare" itself). The word became established in English by the early modern period, with its specialized grammatical sense developing alongside modern linguistics.
Related word forms
How countable is actually used
Primarily a technical term used in language teaching/linguistics and in mathematics; rare in casual everyday speech except in these contexts.
Easily confused with countable
Countable nouns name distinct items that can be counted (e.g. 'apple'), while uncountable nouns name substances or abstract quantities treated as a whole (e.g. 'water').