accounting (English)

Where does "accounting" come from?

The English word 'accounting' first appeared in the late 14th century, formed by combining the base 'account' with the suffix '-ing'[1]. The verb 'account' traces back through Middle English 'acounte' and Anglo-Norman 'acunte', derived from the Old French 'aconter' meaning 'to reckon'[2]. This Old French form ultimately stems from the Latin 'computō', meaning 'to sum up'[2]. Meanwhile, the suffix '-ing' descends from Middle English and Old English forms reaching back to Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European origins denoting a bend or curve[3].

Open questions

• The Old French verb 'aconter' may derive either from an unattested Latin '*accomputō' or from a combination of prefixes and roots. [15]
• The Latin verb 'putō' has competing proposed origins, being derived either from 'putus' with a suffix or from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to strike'. [10]
• The Old English suffix 'ing' is apparently borrowed from Old Norse 'eng' or possibly inherited directly from Proto-Germanic. [5]

Full etymology tree

• accounting (English), 'present participle and gerund of account'
  • derived account (English), '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.'
    • inherited acounte (Middle English), 'An enumeration or count; the act of counting.'
      • borrowed acunte (Old French), 'count; calculation'
        • derived aconter (Old French), 'to tell; to inform of'
          • derived computo (Latin), 'to calculate, compute, reckon together'
            • prefix com- (Latin), 'allomorph of con-'
            • derived puto (Latin), 'to clean, cleanse'
              • derived putus (Latin), 'pure'
                • inherited *putos (Proto-Italic)
                  • inherited *puHtós (Proto-Indo-European)
                    • derived *pewH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to be clean, pure'
  • suffix -ing (English), 'Used to form nouns or noun-like words (or elements of noun phrases) from verbs, denoting the act of doing something, an action, or the embodiment of an action.'

Ancestors

• account (English)
• ing (English)

Sources

1. accounting (English) - Wiktionary
2. account (English) - Wiktionary
3. ing (English) - Wiktionary
4. computo (Latin) - Wiktionary
5. ing (Old English) - Wiktionary
6. angijō (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
7. h₂énkos (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
8. acounte (Middle English) - Wiktionary
9. eng (Old Norse) - Wiktionary
10. puto (Latin) - Wiktionary
11. counte (Middle English) - Wiktionary
12. o (Latin) - Wiktionary
13. putus (Latin) - Wiktionary
14. computus (Latin) - Wiktionary
15. aconter (Old French) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris