The flat work surface of a kitchen counter or similar fixture.
This compound word combines 'counter' from Old French 'conteoir' (counting table) with 'top.' The surprise is that 'counter' originally had nothing to do with kitchens — it comes from medieval banking! Money changers and merchants used special tables called 'conteoirs' for counting coins and conducting business. These counting tables were so important to commerce that 'counter' became the word for any flat business surface, eventually migrating from banks to shops to kitchens.
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