a short account of the news
"the report of his speech"
"the story was on the 11 o'clock news"
"the account of his speech that was given on the evening news made the governor furious"
a formal contractual relationship established to provide for regular banking or brokerage or business services
"he asked to see the executive who handled his account"
a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.
"the explanation was very simple"
"I expected a brief account"
importance or value
"a person of considerable account"
"he predicted that although it is of small account now it will rapidly increase in importance"
a statement of recent transactions and the resulting balance
"they send me an accounting every month"
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.
"The auditor presented the bank account detailing every credit and debit from the previous fiscal year."
In plain English: An account is a record of money coming in and going out of your bank.
"Please check your bank account to see how much money you have left."
Usage: Use "account" to refer to a record of financial transactions, such as a bank ledger or a summary of business dealings. Do not confuse it with the verb meaning to explain something or the noun referring to a user profile on a digital platform unless specifically discussing finances.
be the sole or primary factor in the existence, acquisition, supply, or disposal of something
"Passing grades account for half of the grades given in this exam"
furnish a justifying analysis or explanation
"I can't account for the missing money"
To provide explanation.
"When I asked him why he was late, he gave a detailed account of the traffic jam that delayed us."
To present an account of; to answer for, to justify.
"When asked about the missing funds, he had no clear way to account for where they went."
In plain English: To account for something means to explain why it happened or where it went.
"He decided to account for his missing time by explaining where he was during the meeting."
Usage: Use the verb account to mean explaining or giving a reason for something, often paired with "for." Do not use it simply to describe paying a bill, which requires the noun form or phrases like "pay an account."
The word account comes from the Latin verb computō, meaning "to sum up." It traveled into English through Middle English and Anglo-Norman, retaining its original sense of calculating or reckoning.