Tallyer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person whose job is to keep a running count of items, people, or scores as they are added up
2. Someone who records or counts figures one by one so that a total can be kept accurately
3. One who marks down and keeps track of quantities, such as goods moving through a warehouse or votes cast

Etymology: A tallyer is someone who records or counts things by means of a tally, the notched stick used for keeping accounts. The word is built from "tally" plus the agent suffix "-er," so its meaning follows directly from the tool. "Tally" itself came into English from Anglo-Norman "taille," from Latin "talea," meaning a stick or cutting, and the medieval practice was literal: a debt was marked by notches cut into a wooden stick, which was then split lengthwise so that the creditor and debtor each kept one half as a record. The "-er" ending marks a person who performs an action, as in "baker" or "writer," so a tallyer is simply the person doing the tallying. In the era of split sticks, a tallyer would have been an official who kept such accounts, most notably in the Exchequer, where tally sticks served as receipts for government debts and taxes.

Synonyms: tallier, counter