- assets
- 1530s, from Anglo-Fr. asetz (singular), from O.Fr. assez "enough" (11c.), from V.L. *ad satis "to sufficiency," from L. ad- "to" + satis "enough" (see sad). Beginning as a legal term, "sufficient estate" (to satisfy debts and legacies), it passed into general use; meaning "any property that theoretically can be converted to ready money" is from 1580s. Asset is a 19c. artificial singular.