Asset Was Cut Out of a Legal Phrase
An asset is something of value. The word was created by mistake, from a French legal term meaning enough, which English took for a plural.
An asset is anything of value that a person or company owns. The singular was manufactured by a misunderstanding: Anglo-French *asetz* meant enough, used in law for having enough property to settle a dead person's debts. English heard the final s as a plural, wrote *assets*, and then invented a singular *asset* that had never existed. The same thing happened to *pea*, back-formed from *pease*.
- Something of value. *A valuable asset.*
- A useful person. *She is an asset to the team.*
- Assets — total property. *Net assets.*
- Asset stripping — selling off a company's parts. *Accused of asset stripping.*
- Liability — the opposite. *Assets and liabilities.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | asset | A key asset. |
| Plural | assets | Frozen assets. |
| Opposite | liability | A major liability. |
| Compound | asset class | A new asset class. |
| French source | asetz | Enough. |
- The building is the firm's largest asset.Accounting.
- He is an asset to any newsroom.Of a person.
- Assets were frozen pending the inquiry.Legal.
Singulars invented from plurals
- Asset — from assets, itself from a French word meaning enough
- Pea — from *pease*, which was singular
- Cherry — from Old French *cherise*, heard as a plural
- Kudo — a modern back-formation from kudos, which is singular Greek
- The process is called back-formation and is still producing new words
Anglo-French *asetz*, enough, from Latin *ad satis*. English took *assets* as a plural in the 1500s and back-formed the singular in the 1800s.
Is asset really a back-formation?
Yes. The French original was singular and meant enough. English mistook it for a plural and created a new singular.
What is asset stripping?
Buying a company and selling its valuable parts separately, often for more than the whole cost.