asset
[ as-et ]
/ ˈæs ɛt /
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.
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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
OTHER WORDS FROM asset
as·set·less, adjectiveWords nearby asset
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for assets
British Dictionary definitions for assets (1 of 2)
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
British Dictionary definitions for assets (2 of 2)
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
Cultural definitions for assets
notes for asset
Commonly, the term denotes anything of value.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.