Count″er (koun″t?r), n. [OE. countere, countour, a counter (in sense 1), OF. contere, conteor, fr. conter to count. See Count, v. t.] 1. One who counts, or reckons up; a calculator; a reckoner.
2. A piece of metal, ivory, wood, or bone, used in reckoning, in keeping account of games, etc.
The old gods of our own race whose names... serve as counters reckon the days of the week.
E. B. Tylor.
What comes the wool to?... I can not do it without counters.
Shak.
3. Money; coin; — used in contempt.
To lock such rascal counters from his friends.
Shak.
4. A prison; either of two prisons formerly in London.
Anne Aysavugh... imprisoned in the Counter.
Fuller.
5. A telltale; a contrivance attached to an engine, printing press, or other machine, for the purpose of counting the revolutions or the pulsations. Knight.