asset English · revision 4481

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1531|origins=la satis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæs.et/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a 19th-century singular made from [[assets]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) which is [[bor|xno|assetz|t=enough]], asetz,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Old French asez, assez “enough, sufficiently”, also a noun “sufficiency, compensation”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Vulgar Latin *ad satis “to sufficiency”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Latin ad “to” and satis “enough”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*seh₂-|alt=*sa-|t=to satisfy]].^(Etymonline) An asset is literally something of which there is enough.^(Cresswell 2021) It is related to [[sad]], [[satisfy]] and [[satiate]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As assets, in law, sufficient estate to pay a dead person's debts and legacies: 1531 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the 1530s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The English use began in the Anglo-French legal phrase aver assetz, “to have enough” to meet a claim, and later passed into general use.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The word was at first singular, but because of its final s, copying the French pronunciation, and its collective sense, assets came to be treated as a plural,^(Barnhart 1988) and the singular asset appeared in the 19th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Any property available to pay debts, and then property in general, especially property that can be turned into money, is from 1583,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the figurative sense, a useful quality or advantage, from the 1670s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Asset stripping'' is from 1972,^(Etymonline) and ''asset management'' from 1974, originally American.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1531 – assets, sufficient estate.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1583 – property available to pay debts.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1670s – figurative use.^(Etymonline)

+ * 19th century – the singular asset.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1972 – ''asset stripping''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1974 – ''asset management''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A useful or valuable quality, person or thing; an [[advantage]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A valuable item that is owned.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''assets'': all the property of a person or company, especially as listed on a [[balance sheet]] or available to pay debts.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A spy working in his or her own country under the control of a foreign power.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[assetless]]

+ * [[net asset value]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[satisfy]]

+ * [[sad]]

+ * [[satiate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The plural assets is the older word; the singular was formed from it in the 19th century.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}