account

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
account/əˈkaʊnt/

▶noun

• 1 a description of an event or experience.

• 2 a record of financial expenditure and receipts.

  ■ chiefly Brit. a bill for goods or services.

• 3 a service through a bank or similar organization by which funds are held on behalf of a client or goods or services are supplied on credit.

• 4 a contract to do work for a client.

• 5 importance: money was of no account to her.

▶verb

• 1 consider or regard in a specified way.

• 2 (account for) supply or make up (a specified amount).

• 3 (account for) give a satisfactory record or explanation of.

• 4 (account for) succeed in killing or defeating.

– phrases
call (or bring) to account require (someone) to explain a mistake or poor performance.
money of account denominations of money used in reckoning but not current as coins.
on someone's account for someone's benefit.
on account of because of.
on no account under no circumstances.
on one's own account for oneself.
take account of consider with other factors before reaching a decision.
turn to (good) account turn to one's advantage.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘counting’, ‘to count’): from OFr. acont (n.), aconter (v.), based on conter ‘to count’.