account

noun

ac·count | \ ə-ˈkau̇nt

Definition of account

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a record of debit (see debit entry 2 sense 1a) and credit (see credit entry 1 sense 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

2a : 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.

3a(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

4a : value, importance It's of no account to me.

b : esteem stood high in their account

5 : advantage turned her wit to good account

6a : 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

account

verb

accounted; accounting; accounts

Definition of account (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to furnish a justifying analysis or explanation —used with for couldn't account for the loss

2a : 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

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about account

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Examples of account in a Sentence

Noun

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

Verb

account themselves lucky to be alive

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Today's event also comes not long after the announcements that William and Harry have split their households and social media accounts. — Victoria Murphy, Town & Country, "Princes Charles, William, and Harry Make a Rare Joint Appearance at the Premiere of Our Planet," 4 Apr. 2019 In total, between 200 million and 600 million Facebook users may have had their account passwords stored in plain text and searchable by more than 20,000 Facebook employees, dating back to 2012, Krebs wrote. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Facebook passwords for hundreds of millions of users were exposed to Facebook employees," 21 Mar. 2019 Instagram account @CommentsByCelebs captured even more interactions between Reese and Hollywood's finest on her snarky post, and each one was better than the next. — Kelly O'sullivan, Country Living, "Reese Witherspoon Responds to Rumors That She's Pregnant With Her Fourth Child," 18 Mar. 2019 There are still a number of questions Netflix wouldn’t address when asked by The Verge, including how 45 million account views in seven days compares to the last record holder. — Julia Alexander, The Verge, "Netflix says over 45 million accounts watched Bird Box — here’s what that means," 30 Dec. 2018 The White House, like lawmakers on Capitol Hill, has yet to see the full account by the special counsel. — Jonathan Lemire, The Seattle Times, "Trump claims vindication in Mueller report, goes on attack," 25 Mar. 2019 Just two days after Luke Perry's death at age 52, his two children, Jack and Sophie, have posted on their social media accounts to give tribute to their father — and to express their surprise and agony at the shocking tragedy. — Kaitlin Menza, Woman's Day, "Luke Perry's Children Posted Tributes to Their Dad on Instagram," 6 Mar. 2019 Be sure to include your name, location, contact info, occupation, a recent photo, links to your social media accounts, a short description about your current situation, and your budget for renovation. — Maya Mcdowell, House Beautiful, "HGTV's New Show 'Unspouse My House' Will Help People Redecorate After A Breakup," 6 Feb. 2019 The account appears to be run by Rahaf and her friends. — Jewel Wicker, Teen Vogue, "Saudi Teen Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun May Get Asylum From Australia After Fleeing Her Family's Alleged Mistreatment," 8 Jan. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The dollar amount spent on the bilateral contributions in PEPFAR has been roughly stagnant in nominal terms, and thus decreasing after accounting for inflation. — Dylan Matthews, Vox, "Trump signed a good law this week. Yes, really.," 12 Dec. 2018 Just keeping spending constant on other public services after accounting for inflation — a limited definition of what ending austerity means — would require an additional 19 billion pounds, according to IFS’s analysis. — Pan Pylas, The Seattle Times, "UK wages grow at fastest in a decade but Brexit casts shadow," 16 Oct. 2018 Santos, on the other hand, had less than $500 after accounting for a campaign debt. — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Fox News, "Who is Jahana Hayes, the Connecticut candidate who could make history?," 15 Aug. 2018 After accounting for certain mandatory spending — including about a half-billion-dollar deposit into the state’s rainy day fund — Baker, a Republican who is up for reelection in November, is proposing $575 million in outlays with the surplus cash. — Joshua Miller, BostonGlobe.com, "Governor Baker proposes $72 million for school safety," 13 July 2018 New York’s schools, for instance, spend roughly three times as much per student as Utah’s schools—a huge difference, even after accounting for New York’s higher cost of living. — Jack Schneider, The Atlantic, "The Problem With Generalizing About ‘America’s Schools’," 5 July 2018 But in spite of this, women accounted for only around a quarter of sole protagonists in the top 2017 films and only played about a third of major characters. — Samantha Leach, Glamour, "Female-Led Films Earn More Than Ones Starring Men, According to a New Study," 11 Dec. 2018 Upgrades, downgrades, and switching between many of AT&T’s services are exempt; as well as accounts in California, Illinois, and New York; and U-verse TV, AT&T Phone, and AT&T Internet accounts in Michigan. — Dani Deahl, The Verge, "AT&T will no longer offer prorated credits when you cancel certain services," 3 Dec. 2018 Several of those assets already are being targeted for seizure, as well as about $45 million at City National Bank of New Jersey and accounts in the Bahamas, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. — Joshua Goodman, Fox News, "Maduro's stepsons face scrutiny in $1.2 billion graft case," 24 Aug. 2018

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.

History and Etymology for account

Noun

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

Verb

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 count entry 1"

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Dictionary Entries near account

Statistics for account

Last Updated

14 Apr 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for account

The first known use of account was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for account

on account

noun

Financial Definition of on account

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

noun

English Language Learners Definition of account

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a record of money that has been paid and money that has been received

: 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

English Language Learners Definition of account (Entry 2 of 2)

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

See the full definition for account in the English Language Learners Dictionary

account

noun

ac·count | \ ə-ˈkau̇nt\

Kids Definition of account

(Entry 1 of 2)

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 : worth entry 2 sense 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

accounted; accounting

Kids Definition of account (Entry 2 of 2)

: 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.

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account

noun

ac·count

Legal Definition of account

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : 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