audit

1 of 2

noun

au·dit ˈȯ-dət

Synonyms of audit next

: a formal examination of an organization's or individual's accounts or financial situation

The audit showed that the company had misled investors.

: the final report of an audit

: a methodical examination and review

an energy audit of the house

audit

2 of 2

verb

audited; auditing; audits

transitive verb

: to perform an audit of or for

audit the books

audit the company

: to attend (a course) without working for or expecting to receive formal credit

audited a foreign language course

auditability

ˌȯ-də-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē

noun

auditable

ˌȯ-di-tə-bəl

adjective

auditee

ˌȯ-də-ˈtē

noun

Examples of audit in a Sentence

Noun The Internal Revenue Service selected us for an audit. You will need all your records if you are selected for audit by the IRS. Verb They audit the company books every year. The Internal Revenue Service audited him twice in 10 years. I audited an English literature class last semester.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The company subsequently paused driverless operations nationwide, appointed a new chief safety officer, recalled all 950 of its vehicles, and retained an outside group to perform an independent safety audit. —

Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 20 Nov. 2023 Lawmakers are also requesting an audit of all of Tennessee’s juvenile detention facilities. —

Paige Pfleger, ProPublica, 17 Nov. 2023 Methods such as employee surveys or process audits are often used to assess each element. —

Sherzod Odilov, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 Gilmore questioned why Arkansas Legislative Audit's audit of Arkansas PBS in fiscal year 2022 states that the agency circumvented state procurement law due partly to indifference to that law, because auditors work based on facts. —

Michael R. Wickline, arkansasonline.com, 10 Nov. 2023 They should also be prepared for new audit and compliance requirements for SPACs and companies that have listed for public trading through them. —

Essence, 9 Nov. 2023 The amendment comes on the heels of a U.S. government watchdog announcing an audit of Buttigieg's use of government airplanes for some trips. —

Virginia Chamlee, Peoplemag, 9 Nov. 2023 Courtesy of Gallup Going deeper AI’s Role in Enhancing Trust in Financial Reporting and the Capital Markets, a new report by KPMG, gauges how AI is set to revolutionize financial reporting and audit. —

Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2023 The move comes one day after Inspector General Rene Febles’s office released an audit critical of the board for not giving him and his staff more autonomy, as required by a law Congress passed last year. —

Justin George, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2023

Verb

The process and results of the elections are audited and verified by APRA AMCOS’ independent auditors, KPMG. —

Lars Brandle, Billboard, 23 Nov. 2023 The disclaimer said, among other things, that the financial statements weren’t audited by outside accountants. —

Michael R. Sisak, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2023 Few of these efforts have been validated by the MRC, though some of Comscore’s and iSpot’s work has been examined and is in the process of being audited. —

Brian Steinberg, Variety, 27 Oct. 2023 The company agreed to audit the factories in its supply chain operated by China’s Foxconn in 2012 after a raft of worker suicides. —

WIRED, 26 Oct. 2023 Except that today, the Cour des Comptes, the people in charge of auditing the use of public funds, want to say that films have to make more money, and be more profitable. —

Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2023 The speaker delighted conservatives by breaking off the Israel funding into its own bill and pairing it with $14 billion in cuts to the Internal Revenue Service, hampering the agency’s ability to audit high-income earners and corporations. —

Marianna Sotomayor, Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2023 And in the absence of a complaint, state boards don’t audit practices, said Robin. —

Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 2 Nov. 2023 In the months since that initial Times report, authorities in Mexico have audited, raided or shut down more than 150 drug stores across the country. —

Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'audit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English audyte "examination of accounts, judicial hearing," borrowed from Medieval Latin audītus "sense of hearing, act of listening, right to judicial hearing, examination of accounts," going back to Latin, "sense or act of hearing," from audīre "to hear" + -tus, suffix of action nouns — more at audible entry 1

Note: The sense "examination of accounts," attested relatively late in Medieval Latin, is based on the word audītor, which in the meaning "one who examines accounts" is recorded much earlier—see auditor.

Verb

Middle English audyten, derivative of audyte audit entry 1; in sense 2 back-formation from auditor

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of audit was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century