counter word; measure word
Linguistic term for a word used with numerals to count or classify nouns, such as 本, 枚, 匹, 人, etc.
Japanese counter words are used differently depending on the shape or nature of the thing being counted.
本 is a counter word for counting long, thin objects.
Compound of 助 (jo, 'helping') + 数詞 (sūshi, 'numeral'), literally 'helping numeral'. The term was coined in Japanese linguistics to describe classifiers or counters.