account

play

noun ac·count \ ə-ˈkau̇nt \

Updated on: 26 Jul 2017

Definition of account

1 a :a record of debit (see ²debit 1a) and credit (see ¹credit 2d) entries to cover transactions involving a particular item or a particular person or concern

b :a statement of transactions during a fiscal period and the resulting balance

c archaic :reckoning, computation

2 a :a statement explaining one's conduct

She was asked to give an account of her actions.

b :a statement or exposition of reasons, causes, or motives

no satisfactory account of these phenomena

c :a reason for an action :basis

On that account I must refuse.

3 a (1) :a formal business arrangement providing for regular dealings or services (such as banking, advertising, or store credit) and involving the establishment and maintenance of an account

a checking account

; also :client, customer

They are one of our most important accounts.

(2) :money deposited in a bank account and subject to withdrawal by the depositor

b :an arrangement in which a person uses the Internet or e-mail services of a particular company

4 a :value, importance

It's of no account to me.

b :esteem

stood high in their account

5 :advantage

turned her wit to good account

6 a :careful thought :consideration

have to take many things into account

b :a usually mental record :track

Keep account of all you do.

7 :a description of facts, conditions, or events :report, narrative

the newspaper account of the fire

By all accounts they're well-off.

; also :performance

a straightforward account of the sonata

— give a good account of oneself

:to perform well especially in a competition or confrontation :to acquit oneself well

Though he has an aristocratic bearing, he could probably give a good account of himself in a street fight.
—Ishmael Reed

— on account

:with the price charged to one's account

purchasing on acccount

— on account of

:for the sake of :because of

The game was cancelled on account of rain.

— on no account

:under no circumstances

On no account should the children be left alone at home.

— on one's own account

1 :on one's own behalf

I'm doing it on my own account, not for anyone else.

2 :at one's own risk

3 :by oneself :on one's own

See account defined for English-language learners

See account defined for kids

Examples of account in a Sentence

the difference between the debit and credit sides of an account
We always keep very good accounts.
We opened new accounts at a bank last week.
I took out my money and closed my account.
You can withdraw up to $1,000 a day from your account.
Every week, she puts a part of her paycheck into a separate account.
setting up a bank account

Recent Examples of account from the Web

The money put into the account and the earnings are not taxable.

— julie rovner, Kaiser Health News, "5 Outside-The-Box Ideas For Fixing The Individual Insurance Market," 30 Aug. 2017
By 11 a.m., Novak and his team had agreed on a statement, which was first distributed from the Weather Prediction Center’s Twitter account.

— robinson meyer, The Atlantic, "Hurricane Harvey Is the Rainiest Atlantic Hurricane Ever Measured," 29 Aug. 2017
Moreover, key American allies in the Middle East directly affected by this agreement, especially Israel and the Gulf states, did not have their legitimate interests adequately taken into account.

— john r. bolton, National Review, "How to Get Out of the Iran Nuclear Deal," 28 Aug. 2017
Aside from the menus that release weekly on Lush Kitchen's Instagram account, there's also a section of exclusive products on Lush Kitchen's website, which are produced regularly.

— kristen bateman, Teen Vogue, "Lush Kitchen Is the Secret Way Fans Get Exclusive Products," 25 Aug. 2017
Here are three things your social media accounts might reveal about your own relationship.

— anthea levi, Health.com, "What Your Social Media Posts Can Say About Your Relationship," 24 Aug. 2017
A Change.org petition that was backed by Aaliyah’s brother and estate accumulated 26,182 signatures, and a robust Instagram account that imagined potential Aaliyah for M.A.C beauty products amassed nearly 18,000 followers.

— ashley weatherford, The Cut, "At Last, M.A.C Is Launching an Aaliyah Makeup Collection," 24 Aug. 2017
His Instagram account, for example, is almost devoid of glam travel shots.

— sarah rense, Esquire, "Anthony Bourdain Documents His Best Moments with Tattoos, Not Photos," 23 Aug. 2017
In 1998, its first year, the company had 6,000 accounts, with 60 percent held by foreign investors.

— howard cohen, miamiherald, "He pioneered the world of online trading from Miami, not Wall Street," 23 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'account.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of account

Middle English acounte, accompt, borrowed from Anglo-French acunte, acounte, noun derivative of acunter "to ²account"

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

account Synonyms

Synonyms

chronicle, chronology, commentary (usually commentaries), history, narration, narrative, record, report, story

Antonyms

uselessness, worthlessness

Related Words

version; deposition, documentation, testament, testimonial, testimony, witness; annals, blog, diary, journal, log, logbook, memoir; minutes, procès-verbal; anecdote, tale, yarn; epic, saga; gest (or geste), romance; recital, recitation; case history, case study

Near Antonyms

inapplicability, inappropriateness

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

account

verb

Definition of account

intransitive verb

1 :to furnish a justifying analysis or explanation —used with for

couldn't account for the loss

2 a :to be the sole or primary factor —used with for

The left fielder accounted for all three putouts.

b :to bring about the capture, death, or destruction of something —used with for

Enemy fighters accounted for two of the bombers.

transitive verb

1 :to think of as :consider

accounts himself lucky

2 :to probe into :analyze

See account defined for English-language learners

Examples of account in a Sentence

account themselves lucky to be alive

Recent Examples of account from the Web

The 6-foot, 190-pound transfer from Bureau Valley accounted for 427 total yards and six TDs.

— blake baumgartner, Naperville Sun, "Nick Calcagno scores four TDs as Naperville North overcomes 42-0 deficit," 29 Aug. 2017
Sanders accounted for over 4,300 total yards and 56 TDs.

— brian gosset, star-telegram, "ESPN2 will air Denton Ryan vs. Denton High football game," 26 Aug. 2017
Again, nothing has happened in the intervening years that might account for the difficulty in waging this war.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "A Catholic Nun Schooled Paul Ryan in Humility Last Night," 22 Aug. 2017
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson introduced an exhibit showing money reportedly received by Buncich during transactions with tow operators, cash deposits to the sheriff's personal bank account and the Buncich Boosters account.

— craig lyons, Post-Tribune, "Closing arguments expected in Buncich trial," 22 Aug. 2017
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 90% of cases, including a 2016 outbreak centered in Angola with thousands of victims.

— sam kean, Science | AAAS, "When will yellow fever strike Brazil again? Monkeys and mosquitoes hold clues," 17 Aug. 2017
A manager at the Burbank location said the Frankfort store was closed because of a recent rent increase and accounts at the store were moved to the Burbank location, 5634 W. 87th St. Duke's also has another store at 7610 W. 111th St. in Palos Hills.

— bob bong, Daily Southtown, "Durbins restaurant to call it quits in Summit," 15 Aug. 2017
His RBI double in the eighth accounted for the Marlins’ only other run on Saturday.

— clark spencer, miamiherald, "Same script: Stanton homers again, and Marlins lose to Braves again," 5 Aug. 2017
So what’s to account for the added $230 million in operating income under PayPal’s preferred calculation?

— gretchen morgenson, New York Times, "The Accounting Tack That Makes PayPal’s Numbers Look So Good," 4 Aug. 2017

Origin and Etymology of account

Middle English accounten, acounten, accompten "to count, compute, evaluate, give an account of," borrowed from Anglo-French acunter, acompter, from a-, prefix forming transitive verbs (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + cunter, compter "to ¹count"

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

account Synonyms

Synonyms

consider, call, count, esteem, hold, look (on or upon), rate, reckon, regard, set down, view

Related Words

believe, deem, feel, sense, think; conceive, fancy, imagine

Financial Definition of ACCOUNT

account

noun

What It Is

On account is a term that describes situations in which a customer makes a partial payment for goods or services purchased.

How It Works

In the business world, buying things on account is the same as creating accounts payable. For example, let's assume that Company XYZ orders $1 million in widget parts from its supplier.

Company XYZ pays the supplier $100,000 and puts the other $900,000 on account. This basically means it will pay the rest later -- let's say in 60 days.

Why It Matters

Buying things on account is similar to saying, "put it on my tab." Eventually, however, you have to pay the tab. In our example, the transaction requires careful accounting. Once Company XYZ places its order and/or receives the parts, it will increase its inventory account by $1 million, decrease its cash by $100,000, and increase its accounts payable by $900,000. When 60 days has passed and Company XYZ pays the invoice, it will reduce cash by $900,000 and reduce its accounts payable by $900,000.

Technically, any kind of installment loan (such as your mortgage or car loan) is akin to putting something on account. In the business world, putting things on account usually creates accounts payable (or A/P). A/P is a liability, and as such, it appears on the balance sheet.

In turn, when accounts payable go down, this is considered a use of cash on the company's cash flow statement, and as such, it reduces the company's working capital (defined as current assets minus current liabilities). When accounts payable goes up, this is considered a source of cash on the company's cash flow statement because the company is "stretching out" the time it takes to pay its invoices and thus not using cash as quickly.

Source: Investing Answers

ACCOUNT Defined for English Language Learners

account

play

noun

Definition of account for English Language Learners

: a record of money that has been paid and money that has been received
accounts : records of income and expenses
: an arrangement in which a bank keeps a record of the money that a person puts in and takes out of the bank

account

verb

Definition of account for English Language Learners

: to think of (someone or something) in a specified way

ACCOUNT Defined for Kids

account

noun ac·count \ ə-ˈkau̇nt \

Definition of account for Students

1 :a record of money received and money paid out

2 :an arrangement with a bank to hold money and keep records of transactions

3 :an arrangement for regular dealings with a business

4 :an arrangement in which a person uses the Internet or e-mail services of a particular company

5 :a statement of explanation or of reasons or causes

You'll be asked to give an account of your actions.

6 :a statement of facts or events :report

Give me an account of the game.

7 :²worth 1, importance

It's of no account to them what I think.

— on account of

:because of

We cancelled on account of the rain.

— on someone's account

:because of someone

Don't stay on my account.

account

verb

Definition of account for Students

accounted; accounting

:to think of as

He accounted himself lucky.

— account for

1 :to take into consideration

She didn't account for extra costs.

2 :to give an explanation

How do you account for your success?

3 :to be the cause of

The flu accounts for many absences.

4 :to make up or form

Women account for half the employees.

Law Dictionary

account

noun ac·count

legal Definition of account

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.

trustees filed annual accounts as required by statute
—W. M. McGovern, Jr. 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