ledger
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A book or other scheme for keeping accounting records.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
lehjerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlɛdʒɚ
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A book or other scheme for keeping accounting records.
A book for keeping notes; a record book, a register.
accounting
A collection of accounting entries consisting of credits and debits.
A large, flat stone, especially one laid over a tomb.
verb
transitive
To record (something) in, or as if in, a ledger.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A book or other scheme for keeping accounting records.
Used this way, ledger is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a financial use: it has a settled meaning in accounting and business, where precision matters more than colour.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Finance/economics
- Business/professional
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- daybook , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Records of the accounts of a business.
A record in which commercial accounts are recorded.
A book in which accounts are kept.
An accounting journal.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A projecting ridge on a mountain or submerged under water.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A written record of a commercial transaction.
A short line.
A durable writing paper used in record books and business ledgers.
Top rail of a fence or balustrade.
The ledger that contains all of the financial accounts of a business.
Details of an account supporting the amount stated in the general ledger.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- debitnoun
- randnoun
- transactionsnoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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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.