asset

American  

[as-et] / ˈæs ɛt /

noun

• assets
  plural

1. a useful and desirable thing or quality.

   Organizational ability is an asset.

2. a single item of ownership having exchange value.

   Our summer home is an asset we're not willing to sell.

3. Digital Technology. one of the media components that, taken together, comprise all of the elements of a video game, such as the environments, objects, character art and animation, and sound design.

   All of the game assets are downloaded to your hard drive during the install, so slow load times are local and indicate a problem with your drive.

4. (in intelligence and information gathering) a person followed or spied upon to obtain information, who may be consenting, forced, or unaware of being used.

   They threatened to release a catalog of virtually every CIA asset within the Soviet Union.

5. Military. a physical resource, such as a piece of equipment, vehicle, or building.

6. assets. see assets.

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asset British  

/ ˈæsɛt /

noun

1. anything valuable or useful See also assets

   experience is their main asset

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asset Cultural  

1. A possession that can be turned into cash to cover liabilities.

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Discover More

Commonly, the term denotes anything of value.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• assetless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assets
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of asset

First recorded in 1525–35; back formation from assets, in phrase have assets, literally, “have enough (to pay obligations),” from Anglo-French, Old French asez “enough,” from unattested Vulgar Latin ad satis “to sufficiency”; see also assai ¹

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Explanation

An asset is something you have that is positive. It can mean a piece of property, a piece of equipment, an ability, or even a quality. "Her facility with math is an asset when it comes to figuring out the restaurant tab. She is an asset to the group." A person's overall financial picture is determined by lining up everything they own in the asset column, and everything they owe in the liability (or debit) column.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

asset assets

Throughout the playoffs, the Dodgers tried to lean into their age as an asset.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

A deferred payment obligation doesn’t automatically shield the proceeds from marital claims, and the note itself may be treated as an asset in a divorce.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

The project was funded by Croydon Council as a public asset, and a change in building regulations meant it "fought against five or six circumstantial elements beyond the normal challenges".

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Flavio Bolsonaro has proposed treating the environment as a "strategic asset," including a pledge to end "illegal deforestation" by 2029.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

He tells me daily that if I applied myself, I could be “one heck of an asset to the team.”

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

Today, the fund’s expense ratio is 0.18%, even though its assets exceed $120 billion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Depending on the value of your total foreign assets, other reporting requirements can apply as well.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

That’s a departure from conventional state personal tax, which is levied on income such as wages and the proceeds from sales of stocks, bonds and other such financial assets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

But Seoul and Washington said the North Korean weapon could be "sufficiently detected and intercepted" using the allies' existing defence assets.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

What he could not see was the nature of their assets.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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Related Words

• aid
• benefit
• credit
• resource
• service

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