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

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

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

Robert Tipp, chief investment strategist at asset manager PGIM, said the extent of the selloff was driven by forced selling, rather than a fundamental change in France’s creditworthiness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

Egan-Jones, which advises institutional investors, asset managers, and financial institutions, warned firms selling “intellectual capital by the hour,” such as auditing, investment banking, consulting, law and engineering face price erosion from AI competition.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

Asked if he believed an AI bubble could burst, Bailey said: "You could see some correction of asset prices at some point."

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Gold’s role as a monetary asset keeps it firmly in reserve managers’ thinking,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

He proved to be more of a distraction than an asset.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Consumer brands from Wyndham to BetMGM are developing in-house teams that can use AI to create digital assets and optimize as they go.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Training Laotian pilots will require China to put military assets there -- whether modest transport aircraft or modern fighter jets.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

In my opinion, people who have almost $7 million in assets and earn more than $700,000 are plausible candidates to be able to withstand the illiquidity and other risks of private funds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

A longtime Wall Street lawyer, Clayton represented Goldman Sachs during the 2008 financial crisis and Barclays in its purchase of Lehman Brothers' assets.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

We have already noted some of the assets and liabilities they brought along with them.

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

Related Words

• aid
• benefit
• credit
• resource
• service