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

A decision to wait, unaccompanied by any account of what would push the committee to act, raises the question of whether the rhetoric will ever be matched by action.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Because the margins can be major, but they don’t account for most of the Lakers’ offseason grade this summer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

The previous year, the suit claimed, hackers created an email account impersonating a photographer, and persuaded a digital technician to send them unreleased photos that belonged to Grande.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

If you withdraw $10,000 from a tax-deferred account in the 12% tax bracket, you’re going to owe $1,200.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

“Did she take money out of my account? Because if she did...”

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

By all accounts, they were a deeply devoted couple: Peter said he wrote with Lorraine’s voice in mind, while she included music by her husband in every recital.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences hundreds of jolts every year and accounts for about 18 percent of the world's earthquakes.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

The firm’s more popular product is Zelle, which sends money between customer accounts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

How much do you have in an emergency fund or liquid accounts?

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

By all accounts, Andre was a model British officer with impeccable manners, who had the misfortune to be caught doing his duty.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

These industries accounted for 98% of the state’s private job growth during that period.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Zimbabwe, which accounted for the largest share of those returning, said many had worked in South Africa's farming, domestic work and construction sectors.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

FilmLA noted that many local comedy productions are based on stage and not accounted for in the latest research.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

What this means in practice is that while the U.S. runs a revenue deficit on trade, we run an enormous surplus in profits on trade when properly accounted for.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

You start to wonder why your dead parent is more present and accounted for than the living one.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

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

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

The federal government also does not keep a comprehensive accounting.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and US-based Micron dominate the Dram market, with the three companies accounting for around 90% of global production.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

After accounting for the crew that had been outside during the explosion, they turned back to their instruments and discovered that the water level in unit 2 had started to go down.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Related Words

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