Countre

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. An old spelling of the word for a small disc used in counting or reckoning sums ; an old spelling of the word meaning placed against or in opposition to something
2. A former variant spelling of the term for a token used to tally or calculate ; a historical spelling of the adjective describing something opposed or contrary
3. An obsolete form of the word for a piece used in computing totals ; an archaic form of the word describing a position set against or running opposite to another

Etymology: "Countre" is an old spelling of "counter," and the two words it could mean are both bound up with the idea of counting. The sense the question names, an old counting token, is the one "counter" carried in English for centuries: small discs of metal or bone used to reckon sums on a flat board or table, long before the abacus-style calculating aids of later ages. The verb sense of counting itself comes from the same family of ideas. The spelling also overlaps with "country," which is a different word altogether. Its ending was once written with the same "-tre" pattern that "countre" shows, so an old reader meeting the form had to rely on context to know whether a counting device or a region was meant.