- 1須負責的、可究責的（須向人交代）
If you are accountable, you are the one who must answer for what happened. When things go well, people can thank you; when they go badly, they can ask you why, and you are expected to explain — and take the criticism. It is a little stronger than responsible. Responsible can just mean “it is your job.” Accountable often means “you will have to show what you did, and someone may judge you for it.” Though actually, in everyday talk many people use the two as if they were the same. You are usually accountable to someone (a boss, voters, the public) for something (a decision, money, a mistake). It is a serious, grown-up word: offices, news, and school rules use it more than friends chatting.
From the word’s history
From account + -able; first attested around 1400.
account 加上 -able，約 1400 年首見。
組成account (a record, or the act of explaining what you did) + -able (fit to be / able to be). First used around 1400: able to be called to account.
同家族的字
- accountthe base: a record, or explaining what you did
- accountanta person whose job is money records
- accountingthe work or subject of keeping money records
- accountabilitythe noun: the state of being accountable
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
accountableadj/əˈkaʊntəbl̩/
- 1
Obliged, when called upon, to answer (for one’s deeds); answerable.
- Everyone is accountable to God for their conduct.
- You will be held accountable for your misdemeanors.
- 2
Obliged to keep accurate records (of property or funds).
- 3
Liable to be called on to render an account.
- 4
rareformalCapable of being accounted for; explicable; explainable.
- True religion . . . intelligible, rational, and accountable, -- not a burden but a privilege.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。