noun
count
An individual charge or claim in a legal case.
The indictment lists three counts of fraud.
Etymology
Old French conter could mean to recount or relate. A legal count is a formal statement setting out one accusation or claim, preserving the idea of a matter recounted in pleading.
More examples
- She denied every count in the complaint.
- He was convicted on one count and acquitted on another.
- The prosecutor withdrew the remaining counts.
Forms
count · counts
Similar words
- charge
- Can mean the accusation generally rather than one numbered allegation.
- allegation
- An asserted wrong, not necessarily a separate formal count.