account

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈkaʊnt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English acount (also accompt), borrowed from Anglo-Norman acunte and acont (“account, reckoning”),^[2][3][4] from the verb aconter (“to reckon, render account”),^[5][6][7] formed from a (“to”) and conter (“to count”),^[3][8] from Latin computāre (“to count, sum up”).^[3][8][7] The verb is inherited from Middle English acounten, from Old French aconter.^[3][2] It is related to count and compute.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Counting, especially a reckoning of money received and paid: about 1300.^[3][2] The verb, “to count, enumerate”, is from about 1300^[3] or 1303.^[9]

Semantic evolution

From the start the noun was often plural.^[3] The sense “answering for one's conduct”, especially at the Last Judgment, is from about 1300,^[3] and the verb “to explain, justify” from the same time.^[3] “Estimation, consideration” is from the late 14th century,^[3] or the 14th according to Hoad.^[5] A course of business dealings is from the 1640s, and an arrangement to keep money in a bank from 1833.^[3][9] A narration or recital of facts is by the 1610s.^[3] On no account is from 1704,^[3] and on account in the financial sense from 1611.^[9] A customer with an account at a firm is from 1937.^[9][3] Klein notes that modern French distinguishes compter, “to count”, from conter, “to tell”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – counting, reckoning; verb, to count.^[3]
• c. 1300 – answering for one's conduct.^[3]
• late 14th century – estimation.^[3]
• 1610s – a narration.^[3]
• 1611 – on account.^[9]
• 1640s – a course of business dealings.^[3]
• 1704 – on no account.^[3]
• 1833 – a bank account.^[9]
• 1937 – a client.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A narrative or record of events.
2. An explanation given for an action.
3. A formal arrangement with a bank or business for regular dealings; money held in one.
4. A list or statement of financial transactions.
5. A client or customer.
6. Worth or importance: of no account.

Verb

1. To consider as being; to deem.
2. (account for) To explain or justify; to make up a share of.

Word family

• accountancy
• subaccount
• no-account
• unaccounted
• account book
• account executive
• account payable
• account receivable

Related words

• accountable
• accountant
• count
• compute
• raconteur

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press