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account

noun · verb

Simple meaning

a statement or reason for something, or a story of events

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhkownt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈkaʊnt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A statement in general of reasons, causes, grounds, etc., explanatory of some event; a reason of an action to be done.

    “Don't do it on my account.”

  2. A reason, grounds, consideration, motive; a person's sake.

  3. A record or narrative description of past events

  4. A record of events; a relation or narrative.

  5. An estimate or estimation; valuation; judgment.

  6. accounting

    A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review.

verb

  1. Furnish a justifying analysis or explanation

    “I can't account for the missing money.”

  2. To provide explanation.

  3. transitive

    To estimate, consider (something to be as described).

  4. intransitive

    To give a satisfactory evaluation for financial transactions, money received etc.

  5. intransitive

    To give a satisfactory evaluation for (one's actions, behaviour etc.); to answer for.

  6. intransitive

    To give a satisfactory reason for; to explain.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A statement in general of reasons, causes, grounds, etc., explanatory of some event; a reason of an action to be done.

This sense of 'account' refers to a reason or explanation, often used with 'on that account' or 'on no account.' It's more formal than simply saying 'reason' or 'cause,' suggesting a considered explanation.

Heard in a sentence
“Don't do it on my account.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where you'll really hear it

  • Formal Letter

    “Please do not delay, on any account, submitting your application.”

  • Legal Discussion

    “The judge asked for a full account of the defendant's actions.”

  • Historical Text

    “On this account, the rebellion began due to economic hardship.”

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

How It’s Used

The word’s distinct uses, one example each.

  • Statement / reasonnoun

    “Don't do it on my account.”

  • Furnishverb

    “I can't account for the missing money.”

More ways to use account

  • “He asked to see the executive who handled his account.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

take accountcurrent accountbank accountsome accountfull accountaccount given

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • accountingnounInflected form

    A convincing explanation that reveals basic causes.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • account representativenounCompound term

    Someone in charge of a client's account for an advertising agency or brokerage or other service business.

  • account statementnounCompound term

    A statement of recent transactions and the resulting balance.

  • accounting datanounCompound term

    All the data (ledgers and journals and spreadsheets) that support a financial statement.

  • accounting entrynounCompound term

    A written record of a commercial transaction.

  • accounting firmnounCompound term

    A firm of accountants who provide accounting and auditing services for a fee.

  • accounting principlenounCompound term

    A principle that governs current accounting practice and that is used as a reference to determine the appropriate treatment of complex transactions.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • accountantnounRelated term

    Someone who maintains and audits business accounts.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: statement in general of reasons or causes

reportchroniclebillstory

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.