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Raconteur Has Old French Roots
If you’re a sage of sagas, a bard of ballads, or a pro in prose, you may have lost count of the accounts you’ve recounted. Some might call you a recounter, but as a master of narrative form you may find that recounter lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. Sure, it has a cool story—it traces back to the Latin verb computere, meaning “to count”—but so do many words: compute and computer, count and account, and neither last nor least, raconteur, a singsong title better fit for a whimsical storyteller. English speakers borrowed raconteur from French in the early 19th century.
Examples of raconteur in a Sentence
M.l. Elrick, Freep.com, 28 July 2025
Within the theater world, Libin was a beloved and admired raconteur, a kind of living encyclopedia of show biz lore.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 June 2025
The local Texas boys got it in front of an actor, writer, producer, raconteur named L.M. Kit Carson, who was something of a legendary figure in independent filmmaking who cowrote Paris, Texas and was once married to Karen Black.
—Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 18 June 2025
The book is a must-read for anyone who cares about the restaurant scene of the last 40 years — or just wants to hear a worldy raconteur tell the story of an epic life, full of feuds and ups and downs, with brutal candor.
—Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for raconteur
Cite this Entry
“Raconteur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raconteur. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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