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

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

The experience of the nonagency mortgage-backed securities market before the 2008 financial crisis shows how opacity can enable misrepresentations of asset quality, erode investor confidence and contribute to market unraveling.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

Financial crises are rarely caused by asset losses alone.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

But they also defy the conventional notion that an asset is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Because these funds are often leveraged, a tiny drop in asset value is amplified when it hits a fund’s equity cushion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

But the Italian army proved woefully unprepared for war, launching repeated attacks against the Austrians, gaining no ground, suffering huge casualties, and becoming a liability rather than an asset to the Allies.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• aid
• benefit
• credit
• resource
• service