account for

ac·count  (-kount)

n.

1. A narrative or record of events.

2.

a. A reason given for a particular action or event: What is the account for this loss?

b. A report relating to one's conduct: gave a satisfactory account of herself.

c. A basis or ground: no reason to worry on that account.

3. Abbr. a/c or acct.

a. A formal banking, brokerage, or business relationship established to provide for regular services, dealings, and other financial transactions.

b. A precise list or enumeration of financial transactions.

c. Money deposited for checking, savings, or brokerage use.

d. A customer having a business or credit relationship with a firm: salespeople visiting their accounts.

4. Worth, standing, or importance: a landowner of some account.

5. Profit or advantage: turned her writing skills to good account.

tr.v. ac·count·ed, ac·count·ing, ac·counts

To consider as being; deem. See Synonyms at consider. See Usage Note at as¹.

Phrasal Verb:

account for

1. To constitute the governing or primary factor in: Bad weather accounted for the long delay.

2. To provide an explanation or justification for: The suspect couldn't account for his time that night.

Idioms:

call to account

1. To challenge or contest.

2. To hold answerable for.

on account

On credit.

on account of

Because of; for the sake of: "We got married on account of the baby" (Anne Tyler).

on no account

Under no circumstances.

on (one's) own account

1. For oneself.

2. On one's own; by oneself: He wants to work on his own account.

take into account

To take into consideration; allow for.

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[Middle English, from Old French acont, from aconter, to reckon : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + cunter, to count (from Latin computre, to sum up; see compute).]

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account for

vb (intr, preposition)

1. to give reasons for (an event, act, etc.)

2. to make or provide a reckoning of (expenditure, payments, etc.)

3. to be responsible for destroying, killing, or putting (people, aircraft, etc.) out of action

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	account for - be the reason or explanation for; "The recession accounts for the slow retail business" be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"
	2.	account for - give reasons for; "Can you account for all these absences?" explain, explicate - make plain and comprehensible; "He explained the laws of physics to his students"

Translations

? account for

vi +prep obj

(= explain) → erklären; (= give account of) actions, expenditure → Rechenschaft ablegen über (+acc); how do you account for it? → wie erklären Sie sich (dat) → das?; he wasn’t able to account for the missing money → er konnte den Verbleib des fehlenden Geldes nicht erklären; all the children were/all the money was accounted for → der Verbleib aller Kinder/des (ganzen) Geldes war bekannt, man wusste, wo die Kinder alle waren/wo das Geld (geblieben) war; there’s no accounting for taste → über Geschmack lässt sich (nicht) streiten

(= be the source of) → der Grund sein für; this area accounts for most of the country’s mineral wealth → aus dieser Gegend stammen die meisten Bodenschätze des Landes; this area alone accounts for some 25% of the population → diese Gegend allein macht etwa 25% der Bevölkerung aus; he accounts for most of the accidents → die meisten Unfälle gehen auf sein Konto (inf)

(= be the cause of defeat, destruction etc of) → zur Strecke bringen; (illness) → dahinraffen; chances → zunichtemachen; Proctor accounted for five Australian batsmen → Proctor hat fünf australische Schlagmänner ausgeschlagen

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account for → يُبَرِر odpovídat za redegøre for erklären λογοδοτώ dar cuenta de selittää expliquer razjasniti rendere conto di ･･･の説明がつく 설명하다 verklaren svare for wyjaśnić prestar contas давать отчет svara för ให้เหตุผลสำหรับ hesap vermek giải thích 解释