asset

[ as-et ]

/ ˈæs ɛt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR asset ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a useful and desirable thing or quality: Organizational ability is an asset.

a single item of ownership having exchange value.

assets,

items of ownership convertible into cash; total resources of a person or business, as cash, notes and accounts receivable, securities, inventories, goodwill, fixtures, machinery, or real estate (opposed to liabilities).
Accounting.the items detailed on a balance sheet, especially in relation to liabilities and capital.
all property available for the payment of debts, especially of a bankrupt or insolvent firm or person.
Law.property in the hands of an heir, executor, or administrator, that is sufficient to pay the debts or legacies of a deceased person.

Nearby words

Origin of asset

1525–35; back formation from assets, in phrase have assets, literally, have enough (to pay obligations) < Anglo-French, Old French asez enough. See assai¹

Related formsas·set·less, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for assets

Authorities have seized more than $250 million in assets from businesses across Rome.
The Mayor Who Took Down the Mafia That Ruined Rome|Barbie Latza Nadeau|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
However, since he was living at home, our income and assets disqualified him from SSI and Medicaid.
Medicaid Will Give You Money for At-Home Care, but You Might Wait Years|Elizabeth Picciuto|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was later sued by his lawyers in London for failing to pay $419,400 in counsel fees when his assets were frozen.
The Mysterious Death of the Art World’s Favorite Sheikh|Lizzie Crocker|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Just last week, a New Zealand court ruled he could no longer continue hiding his assets.
The Zillionaires Who Lost Everything|Tom Sykes|October 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

By Aug. 20, Ponomarev said he learned that all of his Russian assets were frozen.
The Bolshevik Who Thinks ‘The Nation’ Is Too Left Wing|Eli Lake|October 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gower had debts and no assets save his land on the Squitty cliffs and the closed cannery at Folly Bay.
Poor Man's Rock|Bertrand W. Sinclair
The copies of our reports are assets and should be realized on.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fifth Annual Meeting|Various
My grandfather seems to have mislaid or lost most of his assets before he died.
The House of a Thousand Candles|Meredith Nicholson
Only after expensive litigation could Receiver Waite hope to add insurance and bond money to the assets.
When Egypt Went Broke|Holman Day
Your assets of every sort will not return your creditors—I should say your creditor—fifteen per cent.
Mortmain|Arthur Cheny Train

British Dictionary definitions for assets

assets

/ (ˈæsɛts) /

pl n

accounting the property and claims against debtors that a business enterprise may apply to discharge its liabilities. Assets may be fixed, current, liquid, or intangible and are shown balanced against liabilitiesCompare liabilities

law the property available to an executor or administrator for settlement of the debts and payment of legacies of the estate of a deceased or insolvent person

any property owned by a person or firm

Word Origin for assets

C16 (in the sense: enough to discharge one's liabilities): via Anglo-French from Old French asez enough, from Vulgar Latin ad satis (unattested), from Latin ad up to + satis enough

asset

/ (ˈæsɛt) /

noun

anything valuable or usefulexperience is their main asset See also assets

Word Origin for asset

C19: back formation from assets

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for assets

assets

1530s, "sufficient estate," from Anglo-French asetz (singular), from Old French assez (11c.) "sufficiency, satisfaction; compensation," noun use of adverb meaning "enough, sufficiently; very much, a great deal," from Vulgar Latin *ad satis "to sufficiency," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + satis "enough" (see sad).

Beginning as a legal term, "sufficient estate" (to satisfy debts and legacies), it passed into general use; meaning "any property that theoretically can be converted to ready money" is from 1580s. Asset is a 19c. artificial singular. Asset stripping attested from 1972.

asset

see assets.

Culture definitions for assets

asset

A possession that can be turned into cash to cover liabilities.

Note

Commonly, the term denotes anything of value.

asset

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of asset

Examples from the Web for assets

assets

pl n

Word Origin for assets

asset

noun

Word Origin for asset

assets

asset

asset

Note