accountable English · revision 15259

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈkaʊntəbl̩/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|accountable]], [[bor|xno|acomptable]],^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) from [[m|xno|acunter|t=to account]] and [[m|xno|-able]] (see [[account]] and [[-able]]).^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Answerable, liable to be called to account: about 1400 in English, the mid-14th century in Anglo-French, according to Etymonline;^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster gives the 15th century.^(MWU 2024) The OED's first quotation with ''to'' a person or ''for'' a thing is from 1583.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century it also meant able to be reckoned or computed (1589), to be counted on (1603–5) and attributable (1681), senses now obsolete.^(OED 1989) Able to be explained is from 1665;^(OED 1989) it survives mainly in the negative [[unaccountable]].^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – answerable.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1583 – accountable to someone for something.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1589 – able to be computed (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1665 – explicable.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[responsible|alt=Responsible]] to someone or for something; [[answerable]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Able to be explained.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[accountability]]

+ * [[accountably]]

+ * [[accountableness]]

+ * [[nonaccountable]]

+ * [[unaccountable]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[account]]

+ * [[count]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}