account

American  

[uh-kount] / əˈkaʊnt /

noun

accounts plural

1. an oral or written description of particular events or situations; narrative.

   an account of the meetings;

   an account of the trip.

   Synonyms:

   chronicle, report

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

   Synonyms:

   justification

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.

   Synonyms:

   significance, import

6. estimation; judgment.

   In his account it was an excellent piece of work.

   Synonyms:

   consideration

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.

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

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

11. Commerce.

    1. a business relation in which credit is used.

    2. any customer or client, especially one carried on a regular credit basis.

    3. 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.

12. Digital Technology. an electronic identity, as a username and its associated data, assigned to an individual or group for secure, personalized access to a website, network, digital service, etc.: Your email account has been hacked!

    I don’t access my work account from my home computer.

    Your email account has been hacked!

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verb (used without object)

accounts, present (3rd person singular) accounted, past participle, past accounting present participle

1. to give an explanation (usually followed byfor ).

   to account for the accident.

2. to answer concerning one's conduct, duties, etc. (usually followed byfor ).

   to account for the missing documents.

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

4. to cause (usually followed byfor ).

   The humidity accounts for our discomfort.

   His reckless driving accounted for the accident.

verb (used with object)

accounts, present (3rd person singular) accounted, past participle, past accounting present participle

1. to regard; consider as.

   I account myself well paid.

2. to assign or impute (usually followed byto ).

   the many virtues accounted to him.

idioms

1. on no account, under no circumstances; absolutely not.

   On no account should you buy that painting without having it appraised.

2. give a good / bad 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.

3. take account of, Also take into account.

   1. to make allowance for; consider.

      One must take account of the difficult circumstances. Taking account of the high overhead, the price is not excessive.

   2. to notice or observe.

4. on account, as an installment or a partial payment.

   I can't pay the balance, but here's $10 on account.

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

6. 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.

7. on account of,

   1. by reason of; because of.

   2. for the sake of.

      She saw it through on account of me.

8. call to account,

   1. to hold accountable; blame; reprimand.

      Call them to account for having endangered their lives.

   2. ask for an explanation of.

9. turn to account, to derive profit or use from; turn to advantage.

   She has turned her misfortunes to account.

account British  

/ əˈkaʊnt /

noun

1. a verbal or written report, description, or narration of some occurrence, event, etc

2. an explanation of conduct, esp one made to someone in authority

3. ground; basis; consideration (often in the phrases on this ( that, every, no, etc) account , on account of )

4. importance, consequence, or value

   of little account

5. assessment; judgment

6. profit or advantage

   to turn an idea to account

7. part or behalf (only in the phrase on one's or someone's account )

8. finance

   1. a business relationship between a bank, department store, stockbroker, etc, and a depositor, customer, or client permitting the latter certain banking or credit services

   2. the sum of money deposited at a bank

   3. the amount of credit available to the holder of an account

   4. a record of these

9. a statement of monetary transactions with the resulting balance

10. (on the London Stock Exchange) the period, ordinarily of a fortnight's duration, in which transactions formerly took place and at the end of which settlements were made

11. accounting a chronological list of debits and credits relating to a specified asset, liability, expense, or income of a business and forming part of the ledger

12. 1. a regular client or customer, esp a firm that purchases commodities on credit

    2. an area of business assigned to another

       they transferred their publicity account to a new agent

13. 1. to insist on explanation

    2. to rebuke; reprimand

    3. to hold responsible

14. to perform badly

    he gave a bad account of himself in the examination

15. to perform well

16. 1. on credit

    2. Also: to account.  as partial payment

17. (preposition) because of; by reason of

18. to take into consideration; allow for

19. 1. to pay or receive a balance due

    2. to get revenge on (someone)

20. See bank account credit account

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verb

1. (tr) to consider or reckon

   he accounts himself poor

account More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing account

• 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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Usage

What does account mean? An account is a description of an event, either written or spoken, as in When Josh came home late, his parents demanded an account of where he had been. To account means to tell given an explanation of, as you might do in telling a story of events. An account is also a file, profile, or log associated with a business, service, or bank used to keep track of personal information and transactions. To gain access to most social media sites, you have to give the site some basic information, like your name and email address. With this information, the site creates an account for you, giving you access. To account can mean to give an explanation of one’s actions, as in Martina needed to account for her missing homework to avoid getting a zero. Example: According to your account of the evening, you were never near the scene of the crime.

Synonym Usage

See narrative.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subaccount
  noun
• preaccount
  verb
• unaccounted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• accounts
  plural

Participles

• accounting
  present
• accounted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• account
  simple
• accounts
  simple
• have accounted
  perfect
• has accounted
  perfect
• am accounting
  progressive
• are accounting
  progressive
• is accounting
  progressive
• have been accounting
  perfect progressive
• has been accounting
  perfect progressive

Past

• accounted
  simple
• had accounted
  perfect
• was accounting
  progressive
• were accounting
  progressive
• had been accounting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will account
  simple
• will have accounted
  perfect
• will be accounting
  progressive
• will have been accounting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of account

First recorded in 1225–75; (noun) Middle English a(c)ount(e), ac(c)ompte, from Anglo-French, Old French aco(u)nte, acompte; (verb) Middle English ac(co)unten, from Old French acunter, acompter. See ac-, count ¹

Explanation

An account can be many things — such as a story, like if you give a friend an account of what happened at the party she missed. It can also be a business arrangement, like a bank account or an email account. Account is one of those seemingly simple words that have a mass of different meanings. An account can be a narrative or story — a biography, for example, is an account of someone's life. Account can also mean an explanation of something, as in the phrase, "How do you account for that?" An account is also a handy arrangement whereby a store agrees to provide you goods on credit, but then you might have to account for all that debt.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

account accounts accounted accounting

At the bureau’s urging, the Guthrie family later authorized officials to send a small sum, $152, hoping to track the account holder.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

“The LA28 group is putting in a lot of investment. That should account for the fact the Rose Bowl will be losing revenue during the closure.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

These black holes have been proposed as possible candidates for dark matter, the invisible material thought to account for about 90% of all matter in the Universe by mass.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

But the salaries of Adams and his mother, social media spending and travel expenses account for $755,541, or 86%, of the $878,208 allocated to program services.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

LIKES: Secretly maintains a social media account focused on yetis and the Loch Ness Monster.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Between 2017 and 2024, the total amount of money paid into both Legacy and Bush's personal accounts was more than £3.5m.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

“This facility requires minimal work, provides additional amenities for athletes, and accounts for up to $17.6 million in revenue increases and cost savings,” LA28 said when it announced the shift to the Rose Bowl pool.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

CZI also gave $3.6 million to education savings accounts: $10,000 for elementary students, $2,500 for preschoolers and $1,000 for children in early-childhood education.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

Neanderthal ancestry accounts for about 1% of the human genome.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

According to the accounts of White and other agents, he looked at the agents warily, insisting he didn’t know a thing.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

The connection between an older estimated brain age and greater dementia risk remained significant even after researchers accounted for education, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, other medical conditions, and genetic risk factors.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

In the most recent period, credit accounted for just $1.8 billion of new capital, falling 56% from almost $4.1 billion in the previous quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Modelling of a previous West Midlands heatwave by researchers from the University of Birmingham reached the bleak conclusion that the heat island impact alone accounted for roughly half the 130 heat-related deaths.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Sales of traditionally powered vehicles rose 1% as Ford’s pickups continued to shine in the U.S. — the company said that some of its off-road-vehicle trims accounted for nearly a quarter of its U.S. sales.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

“None at all, Corrie. Those cards have to be accounted for a dozen ways. They’re checked and double-checked.”

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Wildberries is Russia's largest online retailer, accounting for up to 10 percent of the country's entire retail turnover, according to Russian media.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

With natural gas accounting for 12% of German power generation, and with half of German homes fitted with gas boilers, German households are also being affected.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Kevin Koharki, a Purdue University accounting professor and founder of CAE Consulting, says the SG&A estimates across the group strain credulity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

That figure far exceeds the 22 total closures seen in all of 2025, while accounting for about 43% of all U.S.-listed ETF closures this year.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

But I always say there’s no accounting for taste.

From "Bunnicula" by Deborah Howe and James Howe

Related Words

• detail
• explanation
• history
• narrative
• report
• story
• tale
• version