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

However, 80 years after the fall of the Third Reich, not all looted assets have been returned to the victims' descendants.

From Barron's

On Monday, Barrick announced it would explore an initial public offering of a subsidiary that would hold its premier North American gold assets.

From Barron's

The short-lived rebound came as Wall Street piled back into riskier assets, including technology stocks.

From Barron's

That’s when investors borrow money in Japanese Yen, which has lower interest rates than other currencies, before converting it into another currency to buy potentially high-yielding assets such as cryptocurrencies.

From Barron's

Funds that offer protection on the S&P 500 took in more than $10 billion in net inflows this year and now hold about $65.7 billion in total assets, according to FactSet.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• aid
• benefit
• credit
• resource
• service