What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Return vs Account - What's the difference?

return | account |

As verbs the difference between return and account

is that return is to come or go back (to a place or person) while account is to provide explanation.

As nouns the difference between return and account

is that return is the act of returning while account is (accounting) 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.

return

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To come or go back (to a place or person).
  • :
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=19 citation , passage=As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.}}
  • To go back in thought, narration, or argument.
  • :
  • (obsolete) To turn back, retreat.
  • *, Bk.V:
  • *:‘I suppose here is none woll be glad to returne – and as for me,’ seyde Sir Cador, ‘I had lever dye this day that onys to turne my bak.’
  • (obsolete) To turn (something) round.
  • *, Bk.X, Ch.xiij:
  • *:Whan Kyng Marke harde hym sey that worde, he returned his horse and abode by hym.
  • To put (place) something back where it had been.
  • :
  • To give something back to its original holder or owner.
  • :
  • To take something back to a retailer for a refund.
  • :
  • To give in requital or recompense; to requite.
  • *Bible, 1 Kings ii.44
  • *:The Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head.
  • (tennis) To bat the ball back over the net in response to a serve.
  • :
  • (card games) To play a card as a result of another player's lead.
  • :
  • (cricket) To throw a ball back to the wicket-keeper (or a fielder at that position) from somewhere in the field.
  • To say in reply; to respond.
  • :to return''' an answer;  to '''return thanks
  • *1897 , (Henry James), (What Maisie Knew)
  • *:‘Ah my good friend, I do look out!’ the young man returned while Maisie helped herself afresh to bread and butter.
  • (computing) To relinquish control to the calling procedure.
  • (computing) To pass (data) back to the calling procedure.
  • :
  • (dated) To retort; to throw back.
  • :to return the lie
  • *Dryden
  • *:If you are a malicious reader, you return upon me, that I affect to be thought more impartial than I am.
  • To report, or bring back and make known.
  • :to return the result of an election
  • *Bible, Exodus xix.8
  • *:And all the people answered together,and Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.
  • (by extension, UK) To elect according to the official report of the election officers.
  • Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the verb "return") * return to form

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of returning.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.}}
  • A return ticket.
  • An item that is returned, e.g. due to a defect, or the act of returning it.
  • An answer.
  • a return to one's question
  • An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, etc.; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information.
  • election returns'''; a '''return of the amount of goods produced or sold
  • Gain or loss from an investment.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
  • The fruit from many days of recreation is very little; but from these few hours we spend in prayer, the return is great.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 22, author=Sam Sheringham, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Liverpool 0-1 West Brom , passage=Liverpool have now won only five of their 17 home league games this season. It is a poor return for a team of Liverpool's pedigree and resources but, once again, Kenny Dalglish's team were the instigators of their own downfall as chance after chance went begging.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return' of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of ' return .}}
  • (taxation, finance): A report of income submitted to a government for purposes of specifying exact tax payment amounts. A tax return.
  • (computing) A carriage return character.
  • (computing) The act of relinquishing control to the calling procedure.
  • (computing) A return value: the data passed back from a called procedure.
  • A short perpendicular extension of a desk, usually slightly lower.
  • (American football) Catching a ball after a punt and running it back towards the opposing team.
  • (cricket) A throw from a fielder to the wicket-keeper or to another fielder at the wicket.
  • The continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, such as a moulding; applied to the shorter in contradistinction to the longer.
  • A facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south.

    Synonyms

    * (l)

    Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the noun "return") * abnormal return * absolute return * active return * amended return * annual return * carriage return * day return * dollar return * exante return * excess return * expected return * exponential return * false return * hard return * in return * information return * joint return * many happy returns * market return * mean return * non-return * point of no return * rate of return * real return * relative return * return address * return crease * return day * return extrasystole * return flow * return key * return of capital * return on assests * return on capital emlpoyed * return on equity * return on invested capital * return on investment * return on net assets * return on sales * return stroke * return ticket * return to form * Return To Zero * return address * risk-adjsuted return * risk-free return * risk-return tradeoff * safety-net return/safety net return * soft return * subperiod return * tax return * total return * venous return

    Statistics

    *

    account

    English

    Etymology 1

    * First attested around 1300. ((reckoning of moneys received and paid)) * (banking) First attested in 1833. * (narration) First attested in the 1610's. * From (etyl), from (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (accounting) 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
  • (banking) A sum of money deposited at a bank and subject to withdrawal.
  • to keep one's account at the bank.
  • A statement in general of reasons, causes, grounds, etc., explanatory of some event; a reason of an action to be done.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
  • , author=Stephen Ledoux , title=Behaviorism at 100 , volume=100, issue=1, page=60 , magazine= citation , passage=Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training.}}
    No satisfactory account has been given of these phenomena.
  • A reason, grounds, consideration, motive.
  • on no account
    on every account
    on all accounts
  • * Episode 16
  • ...who evidently a glutton for work, it struck him, was having a quiet forty winks for all intents and purposes on his own private account while Dublin slept.
  • (business) A business relationship involving the exchange of money and credit.
  • A record of events; recital of transactions; a relation or narrative; a report; a description
  • An account of a battle.
  • * (rfdate) A laudable account of the city of London. - Howell
  • A statement explaining one's conduct.
  • * (rfdate) Give an account of thy stewardship. - Luke 16:2
  • An estimate or estimation; valuation; judgment.
  • * (rfdate) To stand high in your account - Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, III-ii
  • Importance; worth; value; esteem; judgement.
  • * (rfdate) Men of account -
  • * (rfdate) To turn to account - Shakespeare
  • An authorization to use a service.
  • I've opened an account with Wikipedia so that I can contribute and partake in the project.
  • (archaic) A reckoning; computation; calculation; enumeration; a record of some reckoning.
  • Profit; advantage.
  • Usage notes
    * Abbreviations: (business) * of Account , narrative, narration, recital. These words are applied to different modes of rehearsing a series of events * Account' turns attention not so much to the speaker as to the fact related, and more properly applies to the report of some single event, or a group of incidents taken as whole; as, an ' account of a battle, of a shipwreck, etc. * A narrative' is a continuous story of connected incidents, such as one friend might tell to another; as, a '''narrative''' of the events of a siege, a ' narrative of one's life, etc. * Narration' is usually the same as '''narrative''', but is sometimes used to describe the '''mode''' of relating events; as, his powers of ' narration are uncommonly great. * Recital' denotes a series of events drawn out into minute particulars, usually expressing something which peculiarly interests the feelings of the speaker; as, the ' recital of one's wrongs, disappointments, sufferings, etc.
    Synonyms
    * (registry of pecuniary transactions) * (statement of occurrences) narrative, narration, relation, recital, description, explanation * (a statement of reasons) accounting, explanation * (a reason) * (a vindication) defense, excuse, explanation * (estimate) * * (authorization to use a service) membership, registration, username
    Derived terms
    (Financial terms) * account balance * account book * account code * account executive * account number * account payable * account receivable * account stated * active account * bank account * book account * capital account * cash account * cast accounts * charge account * checking account * concentration account * control account * credit account * current account * custodial account * deferred account * deposit account * discretionary account * dormant account * drawing account * escrow account * expense account * final account * frozen account * general account * giro account * house account * insured account * joint account * managed account * margin account * merchant account * mixed account * money of account * nostro account * NOW account * numbered account * omnibus account * open account * option account * overdraft checking account * pension account * profit and loss account * reserved account * restricted account * retirement account * savings account * separate account * share premium account * suspense account * sweep account * trading account * transaction account * trust account * trustee account * undermargined account * undivided account * valuation account * vostro account * western account * wrap account * zero-balance account (Non-financial terms) * account current: a running or continued account between two or more parties, or a statement of the particulars of such an account * call to account * cast up one's accounts * hold to account * in account with: in a relation requiring an account to be kept * no-account * on account of: for the sake of; by reason of; because of * on no account * on one's own account: for one's own interest or behalf * make account: (Obsolete): to have an opinion or expectation; to reckon * make account of: to hold in estimation; to esteem; as, he makes' small ' account of beauty * shell account * short account * take account of, or take into account: to take into consideration; to notice * a writ of account: (Law): a writ which the plaintiff brings demanding that the defendant shall render his just account, or show good cause to the contrary; -- called also an action of account - Cowell * take into account * theoretical account

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) acounter, (accomptere) et al., (etyl) aconter, (acompter), from (a-) + . Compare (count).

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to provide explanation
  • # (obsolete) To present an account of; to answer for, to justify.
  • #
  • # To estimate, consider (something to be as described).
  • #* 1843 , (Thomas Carlyle), , III.8:
  • The Pagan Hercules, why was he accounted a hero?
  • # To consider (that).
  • #* 1611 , Bible , Authorized (King James) Version, Hebrews XI.19:
  • Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
  • # To give a satisfactory evaluation (for) financial transactions, money received etc.
  • An officer must account with or to the treasurer for money received.
  • # To give a satisfactory evaluation (for) (one's actions, behaviour etc.); to answer (for).
  • We must account for the use of our opportunities.
  • # To give a satisfactory reason (for); to explain.
  • Idleness accounts for poverty.
  • # To establish the location (for) someone.
  • After the crash, not all passengers were accounted for.
  • # To cause the death, capture, or destruction of someone or something (+ (for)).
  • to count
  • #
  • #* 1646 , (Sir Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica :
  • neither the motion of the Moon, whereby moneths are computed; nor of the Sun, whereby years are accounted , consisteth of whole numbers, but admits of fractions, and broken parts, as we have already declared concerning the Moon.
  • # (obsolete) To count (up), enumerate.
  • # (obsolete) To recount, relate (a narrative etc.).
  • #* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.6:
  • Long worke it were / Here to account the endlesse progeny / Of all the weeds that bud and blossome there [...].
  • Derived terms
    * account for * account of

    Statistics

    *