accountant
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- accountantship noun
Etymology
Origin of accountant
First recorded in 1425–75; account + -ant; replacing late Middle English accomptant, from Middle French, Old French acuntant, present participle of acunter “to account ”
Compare meaning
How does accountant compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An accountant is a person whose job involves keeping financial records for a business. To be a great accountant, you've got to be good at math. When a company hires an accountant, it turns over the management of its accounts to that person, who is responsible for keeping track of spending, income, and any other financial information. An accountant is also held accountable for the accuracy of a company's books, and usually has to be officially certified before working in the field. The word comes from account, by way of the Old French aconter, "to count."
Vocabulary lists containing accountant
Tax Day Words
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Exemptions, Deductions, and Loopholes: Tax Day Vocabulary
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"Growing Together" and "When I Grow Up"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Adam Lomas, 33, an accountant from Wakefield, was on holiday in Milan with his wife Katy, 31, and their four-month-old daughter.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
She didn’t tell me and my sibling about it at the time, and instead hired an accountant to help her.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026
Initially Garcia, an accountant with “Dancing with the Stars,” applied to add an ADU to his property but changed his mind because of the cost.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
He thinks he will have to pay employees overtime and add a temporary accountant to his staff of 48 to help sort through thousands of orders.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
‘An accountant would never again be painted in a relation of superiority to a nobleman.’
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
