asset

[ as-et ]

noun

1. a useful and desirable thing or quality:

   Organizational ability is an asset.

2. a single item of ownership having exchange value:

   Our summer home is an asset we're not willing to sell.

3. Digital Technology. one of the media components that, taken together, comprise all of the elements of a video game, such as the environments, objects, character art and animation, and sound design:

   All of the game assets are downloaded to your hard drive during the install, so slow load times are local and indicate a problem with your drive.

4. (in intelligence and information gathering) a person followed or spied upon to obtain information, who may be consenting, forced, or unaware of being used: Compare confidential informant ( def ).

   They threatened to release a catalog of virtually every CIA asset within the Soviet Union.

5. Military. a physical resource, such as a piece of equipment, vehicle, or building.
6. assets. assets ( def ).

asset

/ ˈæsɛt /

noun

1. anything valuable or useful See also assets

   experience is their main asset

asset

1. A possession that can be turned into cash to cover liabilities .

Notes

Commonly, the term denotes anything of value.

Other Words From

• as·set·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of asset¹

First recorded in 1525–35; back formation from assets, in phrase have assets, literally, “have enough (to pay obligations),” from Anglo-French, Old French asez “enough,” from unattested Vulgar Latin ad satis “to sufficiency”; assai ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of asset¹

C19: back formation from assets

Example Sentences

Having an attorney general with so much potentially compromising dirt on him could be an asset, it being hard to say “no” to someone would could arguably ruin you.

From Salon

Industries such as automotive, electronics and apparel retail could face significant pressures under his proposed tariffs, according to a report by asset management company Janus Henderson.

From Salon

The April 2026 start for the policy means they may not have time to make use of existing rules to skip inheritance tax by passing on an asset seven years before death.

From BBC

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel, who left government two months before negotiations began under Rishi Sunak, said the accord would "give away a key strategic asset" in the Indian Ocean.

From BBC

In fact, in January 2024, some of the biggest financial firms in the world added Bitcoin to their official asset lists as Spot Bitcoin ETFs.

From BBC

Related Words

• aid
• benefit
• credit
• resource
• service