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Origin and history of accountant

accountant(n.)

mid-15c., "accounting officer, one who renders accounts," from Old French acontant (Modern French accomptant), from present participle of aconter "to count, enumerate" (see account (v.)). The sense of "professional maker of accounts" is recorded from 1530s. The word also was an adjective in Middle English, "accountable; liable to render accounts" (early 15c.).

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to accountant

account(v.)

c. 1300, accounten, "to count, enumerate," from Old French aconter "to enumerate; reckon up, render account" (Modern French conter), from a "to" (see ad-) + conter "to count, tell" (see count (v.)).

The meaning "reckon for money given or received, render a reckoning," is from late 14c. The sense of "to explain, justify" (c. 1300) is from the notion of "present a detailed explanation of money, etc. held in trust." The transferred sense of "to value, to estimate" (to account as belonging to a certain class of quality) is from late 14c. The intransitive sense of "render an account of particulars" is from late 14c.; hence the transitive sense "give an explanation" (1670s, which usually takes to before a person and for before a thing).

In later Old French the word was partly re-Latinized as acompter (Modern French accompter), hence late Middle English accompten. Related: Accounted; accounting.

accountancy(n.)

"the art of the accountant," 1848, from accountant + abstract noun suffix -cy. Accountantship is attested by 1818.

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