account 
I have been accounted a good stick in a country -dance. 
Sh,;-i,lnn, The Rivals, iii. 4. 
He fails obtain what he account* his right. 
l>rn/ci<iti<i, Kin;; and Book, I. 189. 
2+. To reckon or compute ; count. 
The motion of the sun whereby years are accunnlnl. 
Sir T. Bromif, Vulg. Err. 
3. To assign or impute ; give the credit of ; 
reckon as belonging or attributable. [Bare.] 
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was acctittnt^l 
to him for righteousness. Gal. ii. 0. 
You have all sorts of graces f<-<>iinti'<l to you. 
Jerrold, Works, IV. 408. 
4f. To give an account, reason, or explanation 
of ; explain. 
A way of accounting the solidity of ice. Glaneille. 
5f. To take into consideration. Chaucer. 6f. 
To recount; relate. Chaucer. 
II. intrans. 1. To render an account or re- 
lation of particulars ; answer in a responsible 
character : followed by with or to before a per- 
son, and by for before a thing : as, an officer 
must account with or to the treasurer for money 
received. 
They must account to me for these things, which I miss 
so greatly. Lamb, Old Benchers. 
2. To furnish or assign a reason or reasons; 
give an explanation : with for : as, idleness ac- 
counts for poverty. 
You'll not let me speak I say the lady can account for 
this much better than I can. Sheridan, The Rivals, iv. 2. 
3f. To reckon ; count. 
Calendar months, ... by which months we still account. 
Holder, On Time. 
To account oft, to make account of ; esteem. 
It [silver] was nothing accounted of in the days of 
Solomon. 1 Ki. x. 21. 
I account of her beauty. Shale., T. G. of V., ii. 1. 
account (a-kounf), . [< ME. acount, acunt, 
acont, < Off. acunt, acont (< a- + cont, < L. eom- 
putum, a calculation), acunte, aconte (later OF. 
and ME. acompt, acompte: see accompt), < OF. 
aeunter, acontcr : see account, v.~\ 1. A reckon- 
ing, an enumeration, or a computation ; meth- 
od of computing: as, the Julian account of time. 
That . . . 
I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends, 
Exceed account. Shak., M. of V., iii. 2. 
2. A reckoning of money or business ; a state- 
ment or record of financial or pecuniary trans- 
actions, with their debits and credits, or of 
money received and paid and the balance on 
hand or due : as, to keep accounts ; to make out 
an account. 3. A course of business dealings 
or relations requiring the keeping of records : 
as, to have an account with the bank. 4. On 
the stock exchange, that part of the transactions 
between buyer and seller to be settled on the 
fortnightly or monthly settling-day : as, I have 
sold A. B. 500 shares for the account. 5. Nar- 
rative ; relation ; statement of facts ; a recital, 
verbal or written, of particular transactions 
and events: as, an account of the revolution in 
France. 
The account which Thucydides has given of the retreat 
from Syracuse is among narratives what Vandyke's Lord 
Stratford is among paintings. Macaulay, Hist. Eng. 
6. A statement of reasons, causes, grounds, 
etc., explanatory of some event: as, no satis- 
factory account has yet been given of these 
phenomena. 7. An explanatory statement or 
vindication of one's conduct, such as i given 
to a superior. 
Give an account of thy stewardship. Luke xvi. 2. 
8. Reason or consideration; ground: used 
with on: as, on all accounts; on every account; 
on account of. 
He [Bacon] valued geometry chiefly, if not solely, on 
account of those uses, which to Plato appeared so base. 
Macaulay, Lord Bacon. 
9. Estimation; esteem; distinction; dignity; 
consequence or importance. 
There never was a time when men wrote so much and so 
well, and that without being of any great account them- 
selves. F. Hall, Mod. Eng., p. 293. 
10. Profit; advantage : as, to find one's account 
in a pursuit ; to turn anything to account, 
Why deprive us of a malady by which sucli numbers 
find their account > Goldsmith, The Bee, No. 5. 
11. Regard; behalf; sake: as, all this trouble 
I have incurred on your account. 
Sometimes spelled accompt. 
Account current, open account, a course of business 
dealings still continuing between two parties, oran account 
not stated. Account rendered, a statement presented by 
a creditorto his debtor, showing the charges of the former 
against the latter. Account sales (an abbreviation of 
account nf thr xalcti), a separate account rendered to his 
principal by a factor or broker, showing the goods sold, the 
39 
prices obtained, and the net n-sult after deduction of ex- 
penses, etc. Account stated, an account or statement 
showing the result of a course of transactions, for adjust- 
ment between the parties. Sometimes called a Mate. Ac- 
tion of account, or writ of account, in law, an action or 
writ which the plaintiff brings, demanding that the defen- 
dant shall render his just account, or show good cause to 
tlic contrary. For account Of, on behalf of : as, sold /or 
uri'niint of A. I!., that is, disposed of by sale, and to lie 
accounted for to A. B. For the account, for settlement 
on the regular settling-day, and not for cash or ready 
money : used on the stock exchange. See above, 4. In 
account with, having business dealings with (some one), 
requiring the keeping of an account. Money Of ac- 
count, a denomination of money used in reckoning, but 
not curi'ent as coins: thus, in China, the tael or ounce- 
weight of silver is a money of account. On or to ac- 
count, as an instalment or interim payment. On one's 
own account, for one's self ; for one's own interest and 
at one's own risk : as, he has gone into business on his own 
account. To go on the account*, to join a piratical ex- 
pedition ; turn pirate : probably from the parties sharing 
as in a commercial venture. 
I hope it is no new thing for gentlemen of fortune who 
are going on the account, to change a captain now and 
.1,... .Vj.fitt 
then. 
Scott. 
To make account *, to form an expectation ; judge ; 
reckon. 
This other part . . . makes account to find no slender 
arguments for this assertion out of those very Scriptures 
which are commonly urged against it. Milton. 
They made no account but that the navy should be ab- 
solutely master of the seas. 
Bacon, Consid. of War with Spain. 
To make account of, to hold in estimation or esteem ; 
value : generally with an adjective of quantity, as much, 
little, no, etc. : as, he makes no account of difficulties. 
What is ... the son of man, that thou makest account 
of him ! Ps. cxliv. 3. 
We never make much account of objections [to war] 
which merely respect the actual state of the world at this 
moment, but which admit the general expediency and 
permanent excellence of the project. 
Emerson, Misc., p. 189. 
To open an account with, to begin a course of dealings 
with, requiring the keeping of an account. To take Into 
account, to take into consideration ; make a part of the 
reckoning orestimate. = Syn. 5. Account, Relation, Narra- 
tion, Narrative, Recital, Description, Story, statement, re- 
hearsal, chronicle, history, tale, report. These words agree 
in denoting the rehearsal of an event or of a series of events. 
Account directs attention to the facts related rather than to 
the relater; it is the most general term. Relation is also 
general in its meaning, but implies more directly a re- 
later ; it is less used in this sense than the corresponding 
verb relate. It holds a middle place between account and 
narrative. Narration is the act of narrating ; the mean- 
ing " the thing narrated " has by desynonyniization been 
given up to narrative. A narrative sets forth a series of 
incidents dependent upon each other for meaning and 
value, and generally drawn from the personal knowledge 
of the narrator. A recital is a narrative, usually of events 
that peculiarly affect the interests or the feelings of the 
reciter ; hence it is generally more detailed : as, the re- 
cital of one's wrongs, griefs, troubles. A description is an 
account addressed to the imagination, a picture in words. 
A story is by derivation a short history, and by develop- 
ment a narrative designed to interest and please. There 
may be an account of a battle or a burglary ; a relation of 
an adventure; a man of extraordinary powersofreamj(on, 
so that his narrative is exact and vivid; a recital of one's 
personal sufferings; a description of a scene or an inci- 
dent ; a story of a life. 
account! (a-kounf), PP- [Reduced from ac- 
counted.] Accounted ; reckoned. 
Was with long use account no sin. 
Shak., Pericles, i.,Gower. 
[In older editions this is printed account'd.} 
accountability (a-koun-ta-bil'i-ti), n. The 
state of being accountable or answerable; re- 
sponsibility for the fulfilment of obligations ; 
liability to account for conduct, meet or suffer 
consequences, etc. : as, to hold a trustee to his 
accountability ; the accountability of parents to- 
ward their children, or of men toward God. 
The awful idea of accountability. Ii. Hall. 
accountable (a-koun'ta-bl), a. [< account + 
-able. Cf. F. comptable, accountable, respon- 
sible.] 1. Liable to be called to account; re- 
sponsible, as for a trust or obligation ; answer- 
able, as for conduct : as, every man is account- 
able to God for his conduct ; a sheriff is account- 
able as bailiff and receiver of goods. 
Subjects therefore are accountable to superiors. 
Dryden, Post, to Hist, of League. 
2. Of which an account can be given; that 
can be accounted for : in this use opposed to 
unaccountable. [Rare.] 
We can never frame any accountable relation to it [our 
country], nor consequently assign any natural or proper 
affection toward it. Shaftesbury, Misc., 3. 
Accountable receipt, a written acknowledgment of the 
receipt of money or goods to be accounted for by the 
receiver. It differs from an ordinary receipt or acquittance 
in that the latter imports merely that money has been 
paid. Syn. 1. Amenable, answerable, responsible. 
accountableness (a-koun'ta-bl-nes), n. The 
state of being accountable ^accountability. 
Tied to no creed and confessing no intellectual account- 
ableness to any power less than the Eternal Reason. 
Bellows, Introd. to Martineau's Materialism, p. 7. 
accoutrement 
accountably (a-kouu'tu-bli), adv. In an ac- 
countable manner. 
accountancy (a-koun'tan-si), n. The art or 
jinict ice of an accountant. If. !'.. I). 
accountant (a-koun'tant), n. and a. [Also 
written accomptant, < F. accomptant (OF. HCIUI- 
tant), ppr. of accompter: see account and -ant 1 .'] 
1. n. One who is skilled in or who keeps ac- 
counts ; one who makes the keeping or exami- 
nation of accounts his profession ; an officer 
in a public office who has charge of the ac- 
counts. Also spelled accomptant. 
II. t a. Giving account ; accountable ; re- 
sponsible. 
His offence is so, as it appears, 
Accountant to the law upon that pain. 
Shak., M. for M., ii. 4. 
accountant-general (a-koun'tant-jen'e-ral), . 
The principal or responsible accountant in 
a public office or in a mercantile or banking 
house or company ; in England, formerly also 
an officer in chancery who received all moneys 
lodged in court and deposited the same in the 
Bank of England. 
accountantship (a-koun'tant-ship), n. The 
office or employment of an accountant. 
account-book (a-kount'buk), H. A book con- 
taining accounts, especially one containing a 
record of sales, purchases, and payments; a 
ruled book for entering details of receipts and 
expenditures. 
account-day (a-kount'da), . A day set apart 
once in each half month for the adjustment of 
differences between brokers on the English 
stock exchange. A similar practice prevails 
in the Continental bourses. 
accouplet (a-kup'l), v. t. [< F. accoupler, join, 
< OF. acoupler, also acoubler = Sp. acoplar = It. 
accoppiare, < ML. accopulare, < L. ad, to, + 
copulare, couple : see couple, .] To join or 
link together ; unite ; couple. 
The Englishmen accoupled themselves with the French- 
men. Hall, Chronicles, Hen. VIII., an. 9. 
accouplement (a-kup'1-ment), n. [<F. accou- 
plement = lt. accoppiamenib : see accouple.'] 1. 
The act of accoupling or connecting in pairs ; 
union in couples ; marriage. [Rare.] 
The son born of such an accouplement shall be most 
untoward. Trial of Men's Wits, p. 308. 
2. In carp. : (a) A tie or brace. (6) The entire 
piece of work formed by a brace and the tim- 
bers which it joins. 
accouraget (a-kur'aj), v. t. [< OF. accourager, 
earlier acorager, acoragier, inspire with cour- 
age, < a- (L. ad), to, + corage, coraige, courage. 
Cf. encourage.] To encourage. 
But he endevored with speaches milde 
Her to recomfort, and accourage bold. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. viii. 34. 
accourtt (a-kort'), v . t. [< ac- + court. Cf. OF. 
accort, civil, polite, accortement, accortise, po- 
liteness, courtesy, as if from a verb *accorter.~] 
To entertain with courtesy. 
Accourting each her friend with lavish fest. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. ii. 16. 
accoutre, accouter (a-ko'ter), v. t. ; pret. and 
pp. accoutred, or accoutered, ppr. accoutring or 
accoutering. [< F. accoutrer, earlier accoustrer, 
acoustrer, acoutrer, clothe, dress, equip, ar- 
range, = Pr. acotrar, acoutrar ; of uncertain 
origin ; perhaps < OF. a- (L. ad) + cousteur, 
coustre, coutre, the sexton of a church, one of 
whose duties was to take care of the sacred 
vestments, both of the priest and of the image 
of the Virgin ; prob. < L. "custorem for custodem, 
nom. custos, a guardian, keeper : see custo- 
dian.] To dress, equip, or furnish; specifi- 
cally, array in a military dress; put on or 
furnish with accoutrements. 
Upon the word, 
Accoutred as I was, I plunged in. 
Shak., J. C., I. 2. 
He ungirds his horse, claps the whole equipage on his 
own back, and, thus accoutred, marches on the next inn. 
Goldsmith, The Bee, No. 2. 
Our globe, . . . accoutred with so noble a furniture of 
air, light, and gravity. Derham, Physico-Theol., i. 5. 
accoutrement, accouterment (a-ko'ter-ment), 
n. 1. Personal vestment or clothing; equip- 
ment or furnishing in general ; array ; apparel. 
[Rare in the singular.] 
And not alone in habit and device, 
Exterior form, outward accoutreim-itt. 
Shak., K. John, i. 1. 
I profess requital to a hair's breadth ; not only, Mistress 
Ford, in the simple office of love, but in all the accoutre- 
ment, complement, and ceremony of it. 
Shak., M. W. of W., iv. 2. 
