Accounting
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The development and use of a system for recording and analyzing the financial transactions and financial status of an individual or a business. uncountable, usually
"British Railways are beginning to reap the advantages of electronics applied to accounting. At Swindon Works, a computor, the first of its type to be used anywhere in the world, was installed recently to deal with the pay of some 10,000 employees."
- 2 the occupation of maintaining and auditing records and preparing financial reports for a business wordnet
- 3 A relaying of events; justification of actions. uncountable, usually
"He was required to give a thorough accounting of his time."
- 4 a system that provides quantitative information about finances wordnet
- 5 An equitable remedy requiring wrongfully obtained profits to be distributed to those who deserve them. uncountable, usually
"In contrast, an accounting for profits, or accounting— a distinct form of relief that the majority groups with disgorgement — has a well-accepted definition: It compels a defendant to account for, and repay to a plaintiff, those profits that belong to the plaintiff in equity."
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- 6 a convincing explanation that reveals basic causes wordnet
- 7 a statement of recent transactions and the resulting balance wordnet
- 8 a bookkeeper's chronological list of related debits and credits of a business; forms part of a ledger of accounts wordnet
- 1 present participle and gerund of account form-of, gerund, participle, present
Example
More examples"There is no accounting for tastes."
Etymology
* First attested in the late 14th century. * account + -ing
Related phrases
More for "accounting"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.