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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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

Net asset value was minus 9.1% from January through July of 2026, versus a 5% increase over the same stretch last year, according to Chua.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

That reflects this year’s tumult in the asset class.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

The asset manager’s infrastructure and private-credit arms are leading the jumbo project.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Profit in the recent quarter was dented by a $16 million non-cash asset impairment charge related to the company’s decision to relocate its planned second satellite aluminum recycled slab center to Columbus, Miss. from Arizona.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Thanks to auxiliary fuel tanks and slender, ultraefficient Davis wings, it could fly literally all day, a decisive asset in the sprawling World War II theaters.

From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand

Liverpool have issued over 400 lifetime bans after more than £1.2m of assets relating to the illegal selling of tickets was seized by police.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

“If your assets have been commingled your spouse will inherit 100% interest in the house,” says Rhodes Law Firm, which has offices in North Carolina and Georgia.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

The record-high net asset value of U.S. private-equity assets stuck in “zombie funds” at least a decade old at the end of 2025, according to PitchBook.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

“All of the President’s assets are held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions. Special Envoy Witkoff has divested from World Liberty Financial,” Kelly said in a statement.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

Morgan to buy it by offering a knockdown price and guaranteeing Bear Stearns’s shakiest assets.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• aid
• benefit
• credit
• resource
• service