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Webster 1913 Edition

Account

Ac-count′

,
Noun.
[OE.
acount
,
account
,
accompt
, OF.
acont
, fr.
aconter
. See
Account
,
Verb.
T.
,
Count
,
Noun.
, 1.]
1.
A reckoning; computation; calculation; enumeration; a record of some reckoning;
as, the Julian
account
of time
.
A beggarly
account
of empty boxes.
Shakespeare
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.
–
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.

Ac-count′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Accounted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Accounting
.]
[OE.
acounten
,
accompten
, OF.
aconter
,
à
(L.
ad
) +
conter
to count. F.
conter
to tell,
compter
to count, L.
computare
. See
Count
,
Verb.
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.

Ac-count′

,
Verb.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Account

ACCOUNT'

, n.
1.
A sum stated on paper; a registry of a debt or credit; of debts and credits, or charges; an entry in a book or on paper of things bought or sold, of payments, services &c., including the names of the parties to the transaction, date, and price or value of the thing.
Account signifies a single entry or charge, or a statement of a number of particular debts and credits, in a book or on a separate paper; and in the plural, is used for the books containing such entries.
2.
A computation of debts and credits, or a general statement of particular sums; as, the account stands thus; let him exhibit his account.
3.
A computation or mode of reckoning; applied to other things, than money or trade; as the Julian account of time.
4.
Narrative; relation; statement of facts; recital of particular transactions and events, verbal or written; as an account of the revolution in France. Hence,
5.
An assignment of reasons; explanation by a recital of particular transactions, given by a person in an employment, or to a superior, often implying responsibility.
Give an account of thy stewardship. Luke, 16.
Without responsibility or obligation.
He giveth not account of his matters. Job, 33.
6.
Reason or consideration, as a motive; as on all accounts, on every account.
7.
Value; importance; estimation; that is, such a state of persons or things, as renders them worthy of more or less estimation; as men of account of him. Ps. 144.
8.
Profit; advantage; that is, a result or production worthy of estimation. To find our account in a pursuit; to turn to account.
9.
Regard; behalf; sake; a sense deduced from charges on book; as on account of public affairs.
Put that to mine account. Philem. 18.
To make account, that is, to have a pervious opinion or expectation, is a sense now obsolete.
A writ of account, in law, is a writ which the plaintiff brings demanding that the defendant should render his just account, or show good cause to the contrary; call also an action of account.

Definition 2024

account

account

English

Noun

account ‎(plural accounts)

  1. (accounting) 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
  2. (banking) A sum of money deposited at a bank and subject to withdrawal.
    to keep one's account at the bank.
  3. A statement in general of reasons, causes, grounds, etc., explanatory of some event; a reason of an action to be done.
    • 2012 January 1, Stephen Ledoux, “Behaviorism at 100”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 60:
      Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training.
    No satisfactory account has been given of these phenomena.
  4. A reason, grounds, consideration, motive.
    on no account
    on every account
    on all accounts
    • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses Episode 16
      ...who evidently a glutton for work, it struck him, was having a quiet forty winks for all intents and purposes on his own private account while Dublin slept.
  5. (business) A business relationship involving the exchange of money and credit.
  6. A record of events; recital of transactions; a relation or narrative; a report; a description.
    An account of a battle.
    • (Can we date this quote?) A laudable account of the city of London. - Howell
    • 2000, Yunzhong Shu, Buglers on the Home Front: The Wartime Practice of the Qiyue School, State University of New York Press, ISBN 0791444376, chapter 2, 58:
      In a lapidary style, Qiu Dongping clearly and forcefully describes battlefield actions with simple sentences, giving a blow-by-blow account of successive events with neither understatement nor exaggeration.
  7. A statement explaining one's conduct.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Give an account of thy stewardship. - Luke 16:2
  8. An estimate or estimation; valuation; judgment.
    • (Can we date this quote?) To stand high in your account - Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, III-ii
  9. Importance; worth; value; esteem; judgement.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Men of account - Alexander Pope
    • (Can we date this quote?) To turn to account - Shakespeare
  10. An authorization to use a service.
    I've opened an account with Wikipedia so that I can contribute and partake in the project.
  11. (archaic) A reckoning; computation; calculation; enumeration; a record of some reckoning.
  12. Profit; advantage.
Usage notes
  • Abbreviations: (business): A/C, a/c, acct., acc.
  • of 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.
Quotations
  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:account.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman acounter, accomptere et al., Middle French aconter, acompter, from a- + conter ‎(“to count”). Compare count.

Verb

account ‎(third-person singular simple present accounts, present participle accounting, simple past and past participle accounted)

  1. to provide explanation
    1. (obsolete, transitive) To present an account of; to answer for, to justify. [14th-17th c.]
    2. (intransitive, now rare) To give an account of financial transactions, money received etc. [from 14th c.]
    3. (transitive) To estimate, consider (something to be as described). [from 14th c.]
    4. (intransitive) To consider that. [from 14th c.]
      • 1611, Bible, Authorized (King James) Version, Hebrews XI.19:
        Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
    5. (intransitive) To give a satisfactory evaluation for financial transactions, money received etc. [from 15th c.]
      An officer must account with or to the treasurer for money received.
    6. (intransitive) To give a satisfactory evaluation for (one's actions, behaviour etc.); to answer for. [from 16th c.]
      We must account for the use of our opportunities.
    7. (intransitive) To give a satisfactory reason for; to explain. [from 16th c.]
      Idleness accounts for poverty.
    8. (intransitive) To establish the location for someone. [from 19th c.]
      After the crash, not all passengers were accounted for.
    9. (intransitive) To cause the death, capture, or destruction of someone or something (+ for). [from 19th c.]
      • 1848, Thackeray, William Makepeace, chapter 45, in Vanity Fair:
        Desperately bold at last, the persecuted animals bolted above-ground—the terrier accounted for one, the keeper for another; Rawdon, from flurry and excitement, missed his rat, but on the other hand he half-murdered a ferret.
  2. to count
    1. (transitive, now rare) To calculate, work out (especially with periods of time). [from 14th c.]
      • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica:
        neither the motion of the Moon, whereby moneths are computed; nor of the Sun, whereby years are accounted, consisteth of whole numbers, but admits of fractions, and broken parts, as we have already declared concerning the Moon.
    2. (obsolete) To count (up), enumerate. [14th-17th c.]
    3. (obsolete) To recount, relate (a narrative etc.). [14th-16th c.]
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.6:
        Long worke it were / Here to account the endlesse progeny / Of all the weeds that bud and blossome there [...].
Derived terms
Translations
Related terms

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: talk · spirit · sometimes · #452: account · party · sight · electronic

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɑˈkɑu̯nt/
  • Hyphenation: ac‧count

Etymology

Borrowing from English account.

Noun

account n ‎(plural accounts, diminutive accountje n)

  1. a subscription to an electronic service

Italian

Etymology

Borrowing from English account.

Noun

account m ‎(invariable)

  1. (computing) account

Etymology

  • First attested circa 1300 (reckoning of moneys received and paid)
  • (banking): First attested in 1833.
  • (narration): First attested in the 1610s.
  • From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman acunte ‎(“account”), from Old French aconte, from aconter ‎(“to reckon”), from Latin computō ‎(“to sum up”).

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ə.ˈkaʊnt/
  • Rhymes: -aʊnt
  • Hyphenation: ac‧count

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