account definition | Dictionary.com

ac⋅count

[uh-kount]

–noun

1.	an oral or written description of particular events or situations; narrative: an account of the meetings; an account of the trip.

2.	an explanatory statement of conduct, as to a superior.

3.	a statement of reasons, causes, etc., explaining some event.

4.	reason; basis: On this account I'm refusing your offer.

5.	importance; worth; value; consequence: things of no account.

6.	estimation; judgment: In his account it was an excellent piece of work.

7.	an amount of money deposited with a bank, as in a checking or savings account: My account is now with Third National.

8.	Also called charge account. an accommodation or service extended by a business to a customer or client permitting the charging of goods or services, the returning for credit of unsatisfactory merchandise, etc.: Do you have an account at this store? My account with the restaurant is past due.

9.	a statement of financial transactions.

10.

Bookkeeping.

a.	a formal record of the debits and credits relating to the person, business, etc., named at the head of the ledger account.

b.	a balance of a specified period's receipts and expenditures.

11.

Commerce.

a.	a business relation in which credit is used.

b.	any customer or client, esp. one carried on a regular credit basis.

c.	Also called advertising account. the business assigned to an advertising agency by a client: The toothpaste account was awarded to a new agency last year.

–verb (used without object)

12.	to give an explanation (usually fol. by for): to account for the accident.

13.	to answer concerning one's conduct, duties, etc. (usually fol. by for): to account for the missing typewriters.

14.	to provide a report on money received, kept, and spent.

15.	to cause (usually fol. by for): The humidity accounts for our discomfort. His reckless driving accounted for the accident.

–verb (used with object)

16.	to regard; consider as: I account myself well paid.

17.	to assign or impute (usually fol. by to): the many virtues accounted to him.

—Idioms

18.

call to account,

a.	to hold accountable; blame; reprimand: Call them to account for having endangered their lives.

b.	ask for an explanation of.

19.	give a good (bad, etc.) account of, to do something or conduct oneself in a good (bad, etc.) manner: She gave a good account of herself in the tennis tournament.

20.	hold to account, to hold responsible; hold accountable or culpable: If any of the silver is missing, I'm going to hold you to account.

21.	on account, as an installment or a partial payment: I can't pay the balance, but here's $10 on account.

22.

on account of,

a.	by reason of; because of.

b.	for the sake of: She saw it through on account of me.

23.	on all accounts, in any case; under any circumstances. Also, at all accounts.

24.	on no account, under no circumstances; absolutely not: On no account should you buy that painting without having it appraised.

25.

take account of,

a.	to make allowance for; consider: One must take account of the difficult circumstances. Taking account of the high overhead, the price is not excessive.

b.	to notice or observe.

Also, take into account.

26.	turn to account, to derive profit or use from; turn to advantage: She has turned her misfortunes to account.

Origin:
1225–75; (n.) ME a(c)ount(e), ac(c)ompte < AF, OF aco(u)nte, acompte; (v.) ME ac(co)unten < OF acunter, acompter. See ac-, count ¹

Synonyms:
1. report, chronicle. See narrative. 2. justification. 5. import, significance. 6. consideration.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ac·count (ə-kount')

A narrative or record of events.
1. A reason given for a particular action or event: What is the account for this loss?
2. A report relating to one's conduct: gave a satisfactory account of herself.
3. A basis or ground: no reason to worry on that account.
4. A formal banking, brokerage, or business relationship established to provide for regular services, dealings, and other financial transactions.
5. A precise list or enumeration of financial transactions.
6. Money deposited for checking, savings, or brokerage use.
7. A customer having a business or credit relationship with a firm: salespeople visiting their accounts.
Abbr. a/c or acct.
1. A formal banking, brokerage, or business relationship established to provide for regular services, dealings, and other financial transactions.
2. A precise list or enumeration of financial transactions.
3. Money deposited for checking, savings, or brokerage use.
4. A customer having a business or credit relationship with a firm: salespeople visiting their accounts.
Worth, standing, or importance: a landowner of some account.
Profit or advantage: turned her writing skills to good account.

tr.v. ac·count·ed, ac·count·ing, ac·counts
To consider as being; deem. See Synonyms at consider. See Usage Note at as¹.
Phrasal Verb(s):
account for

To constitute the governing or primary factor in: Bad weather accounted for the long delay.
To provide an explanation or justification for: The suspect couldn't account for his time that night.

Idiom(s):
call to account

To challenge or contest.
To hold answerable for.

Idiom(s):
on accountOn credit.

Idiom(s):
on account ofBecause of; for the sake of: "We got married on account of the baby" (Anne Tyler).

Idiom(s):
on no accountUnder no circumstances.

Idiom(s):
on (one's) own account

For oneself.
On one's own; by oneself: He wants to work on his own account.

Idiom(s):
take into accountTo take into consideration; allow for.

[Middle English, from Old French acont, from aconter, to reckon : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + cunter, to count (from Latin computāre, to sum up; see compute).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Account

Ac*count"\, n. [OE. acount, account, accompt, OF. acont, fr. aconter. See Account, v. t., Count, n., 1.]

1. A reckoning; computation; calculation; enumeration; a record of some reckoning; as, the Julian account of time.

A beggarly account of empty boxes. --Shak.

2. A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review; as, to keep one's account at the bank.

3. A statement in general of reasons, causes, grounds, etc., explanatory of some event; as, no satisfactory account has been given of these phenomena. Hence, the word is often used simply for reason, ground, consideration, motive, etc.; as, on no account, on every account, on all accounts.

4. A statement of facts or occurrences; recital of transactions; a relation or narrative; a report; a description; as, an account of a battle. "A laudable account of the city of London." --Howell.

5. A statement and explanation or vindication of one's conduct with reference to judgment thereon.

Give an account of thy stewardship. --Luke xvi. 2.

6. An estimate or estimation; valuation; judgment. "To stand high in your account." --Shak.

7. Importance; worth; value; advantage; profit. "Men of account." --Pope. "To turn to account." --Shak.

Account current, a running or continued account between two or more parties, or a statement of the particulars of such an account.

In account with, in a relation requiring an account to be kept.

On account of, for the sake of; by reason of; because of.

On one's own account, for one's own interest or behalf.

To make account, to have an opinion or expectation; to reckon. [Obs.]

This other part . . . makes account to find no slender arguments for this assertion out of those very scriptures which are commonly urged against it. --Milton.

To make account of, to hold in estimation; to esteem; as, he makes small account of beauty.

To take account of, or to take into account, to take into consideration; to notice. "Of their doings, God takes no account." --Milton .

A writ of account (Law), a writ which the plaintiff brings demanding that the defendant shall render his just account, or show good cause to the contrary; -- called also an action of account. --Cowell.

Syn: Narrative; narration; relation; recital; description; explanation; rehearsal.

Usage: Account, Narrative, Narration, Recital. These words are applied to different modes of rehearsing a series of events. Account turns attention not so much to the speaker as to the fact related, and more properly applies to the report of some single event, or a group of incidents taken as whole; as, an account of a battle, of a shipwreck, etc. A narrative is a continuous story of connected incidents, such as one friend might tell to another; as, a narrative of the events of a siege, a narrative of one's life, etc. Narration is usually the same as narrative, but is sometimes used to describe the mode of relating events; as, his powers of narration are uncommonly great. Recital denotes a series of events drawn out into minute particulars, usually expressing something which peculiarly interests the feelings of the speaker; as, the recital of one's wrongs, disappointments, sufferings, etc.

Account

Ac*count"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Accounted; p. pr. & vb. n. Accounting.] [OE. acounten, accompten, OF. aconter, [`a] (L. ad) + conter to count. F. conter to tell, compter to count, L. computare. See Count, v. t.]

1. To reckon; to compute; to count. [Obs.]

The motion of . . . the sun whereby years are accounted. --Sir T. Browne.

2. To place to one's account; to put to the credit of; to assign; -- with to. [R.] --Clarendon.

3. To value, estimate, or hold in opinion; to judge or consider; to deem.

Accounting that God was able to raise him up. --Heb. xi. 19.

4. To recount; to relate. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Account

Ac*count"\, v. i. 1. To render or receive an account or relation of particulars; as, an officer must account with or to the treasurer for money received.

2. To render an account; to answer in judgment; -- with for; as, we must account for the use of our opportunities.

3. To give a satisfactory reason; to tell the cause of; to explain; -- with for; as, idleness accounts for poverty.

To account of, to esteem; to prize; to value. Now used only in the passive. "I account of her beauty." --Shak.

Newer was preaching more accounted of than in the sixteenth century. --Canon Robinson.

Language Translation for : account

Spanish: cuenta,

German: die Rechnung,

Japanese: 勘定書

More Translations »

account (n.)

c.1300, "reckoning of money received and paid;" from O.Fr. acont "account," from à "to" + cont "count," from L.L. computus "a calculation," from L. computare "calculate" (see compute). Sense of "narration" is first attested 1614. The verb meaning "to reckon for money given or received" is from 1393; sense of "to explain" (c.1710) is from notion of "answer for money held in trust." Transf. sense of "value" is from 1377. Modern Fr. differentiates compter "to count" and conter "to tell," but they are cognates. Accountant in the sense of "professional maker of accounts" is recorded from 1539.

Account

1. An arrangement by which an organization accepts a customer's financial assets and holds them on behalf of the customer at his or her discretion.

2. A statement summarizing the record of transactions in the form of credits, debits, accruals and adjustments that have occurred and have an affect on an asset, equity, liability or past, present or future revenue.

3. A relaying of happenings from one party to another.

Investopedia Commentary

1. The Knights Templar were the first to hold assets on the behalf of others and make loans on those assets. As such the Knights Templar are credited with creating the foundations of today's banking system. Accounts were first created so that people could borrow to travel to the Holy Land, and hold and amass wealth that was often stolen during the Crusades.

2. This statement of transactions is the record of the growth and development, or shrinking and amortization of almost anything quantifiable.

3. An account is the passing on of information for the purpose of explanation.

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account

The client of a broker, brokerage firm, or broker-dealer. The client may be a business, an individual investor, or an institutional investor.
The record of a client's transactions and investment position. See also account statement.

Main Entry: ¹ac·count
Function: noun
1 a : a record of debit and credit entries to cover transactions involving a particular item (as cash or notes receivable) or a particular person or concern b : a statement of transactions during a fiscal period showing the resulting balance —sometimes used in the pl. accounts as required by statute —W. M. McGovern, Junior et al.>
2 : a periodically rendered reckoning (as one listing charged purchases and credits)
3 : a sum of money or its equivalent deposited in the common cash of a bank and subject to withdrawal at the option of the depositor
4 : a right under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code to payment for goods or services which is not contained in an instrument or chattel paper and that may or may not have been earned by performance

Main Entry: ²account
Function: intransitive verb
: to give a financial account account>

account

In addition to the idiom beginning with account, also see all present and accounted for; by all accounts; call to account; give a good account; no accounting for tastes; on account of; on no account; on one's own account; take account of; take into account; turn to good account.

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