according to
- 1Used to attribute a statement to the person or source that provided it; on the authority of.
According to the weather report, heavy rain is expected by evening.
The car never slowed down, according to the only witness.
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Note
Two jobs share this sense. With a speaker or a document as its object, it reports a claim without vouching for it. Macaulay's "according to him, every person was to be bought" keeps the cynicism at arm's length. With someone in command, it relays an order instead: according to Captain Smith, we are not to spend more than twenty minutes. As per and per do the same work more tersely.
- 2In a manner that conforms or corresponds to something; in proportion to it or in accordance with it.
The ceremony was conducted according to ancient custom.
Workers were paid according to the hours they completed.
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Here the phrase measures one thing against a standard or a scale: a custom, a rule, hours worked, a person's temperament. It once sat comfortably after be as a predicate. Thomas Sprat, in 1695, writes that "our zeal should be according to knowledge." Modern English would more likely say in accordance with in that slot and keep according to in front of a verb phrase or a clause.
- 3Used to indicate that something varies in correspondence with another factor; depending on it.
Seating is assigned according to when guests arrive.
The recommended dosage varies according to the patient's weight.
Note
The outcome swings with a variable here, rather than matching a fixed standard as the "in accordance with" meaning does. It readily takes a whole clause introduced by whether, as in according to whether they live in the north or the south. It also suits choices left open: they might come or not, according to their whim.
Practice
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