asset

American  

[as-et] / ˈæs ɛt /

noun

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. 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

• assetless adjective

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”; assai ¹

Example Sentences

The number of accounts and total assets in them have continued to grow.

From The Wall Street Journal

Gulf assets are an enticing target for Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal

The first phase, known as the House Listing and Housing Census, will gather information on housing conditions, amenities and household assets.

From BBC

In addition, shifting wartime assets to western Saudi bases could have raised sensitive diplomatic issues as American officials were worried about how other Gulf states would react.

From The Wall Street Journal

Analysts at investment bank TD Cowen earlier this year predicted Oracle would shed as many as 30,000 workers and sell some of its assets as it finances its AI infrastructure projects.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• aid
• benefit
• credit
• resource
• service