# asset

Pronunciation: say "AS-et" US/UK /ˈæsɛt/, AUS /ˈæset/

## Noun

1. A thing or quality that has value, especially one that brings in a steady flow of money.
   - Simple: Something useful or valuable that a person or business owns.
   - _Their rental properties are assets that generate income every month._
   - _Patience is an asset in any long negotiation._
2. An item recorded on the left-hand side of a balance sheet, representing something the business owns and counts as valuable.
   - Simple: In accounting, anything a business owns that is recorded as having value.
   - _Accountants classified the patents as intangible assets._
   - _Every asset on the balance sheet must be matched by a claim against it._
3. A person recruited to supply secret information to an intelligence service, often working covertly inside a target group.
   - Simple: A person who secretly gives information to a spy agency.
   - _The handler met the asset in a crowded market to avoid surveillance._
   - _Several assets inside the ministry fed reports back to headquarters._
4. A component, model, process, or framework of value that can be reused or built upon in other work.
   - Simple: In computing, a part, design, or process that has value and can be used again.
   - _Developers stored every reusable asset in a shared library._
   - _Design assets from the first release were adapted for the mobile version._
5. A slang term for a person's sexually attractive body parts: a woman's breasts or buttocks, or a man's genitals. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A playful slang word for a person's attractive body parts, like the chest or bottom.
   - _She knew her curves were her greatest asset and dressed to highlight them._
   - _The dancer's costume was designed to flaunt her assets._

## Origin

This is a back-formation from "assets," which came from Anglo-Norman "asetz," from Old French "assez" meaning "enough."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/asset (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).