according to

English

Preposition

according to

1. (idiomatic) Based on what is said or stated by; on the authority of.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Babington Macaulay

     According to him, every person was to be bought.

   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

     According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.

   According to the directions, the glue takes 24 hours to dry.

2. In a manner conforming or corresponding to; in proportion to.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Sprat

     Our zeal should be according to knowledge.

3. Depending on.

Usage notes

• According to is shown as a preposition in all four American unabridged dictionaries MW3, RHU, Encarta, and AHD.
• The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL) classifies according as a preposition with to phrase as its complement, noting that the meaning when used as a preposition differs from the meaning of the "-ing" form of the verb accord.

Synonyms

• in line with
• on the basis of

Derived terms

• according to Hoyle
• according to one's understanding
• according to plan

Translations

based on statement

• Afrikaans: volgens (af), aldus
• Arabic: طِبْقًا لِـ‎‎ (ṭibqan li-), وَفْقًا لِـ‎‎ (wafqan li-)

  Egyptian Arabic: على حسب‎‎ (ʿala ḥasab)

• Armenian: համաձայն (hy) (hamajayn)
• Asturian: según
• Belarusian: у адпаве́днасці з (u adpavjédnasci z), зго́дна (з) (zhódna (z))
• Bulgarian: според (bg) (spored)
• Catalan: segons (ca)
• Cebuano: segun, suma, sumala
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 按照 (on³ ziu³), 對……嚟講, 对……嚟讲 (deoi³…lei⁴ gong²), 根據 (gan¹ geoi³)

  Mandarin: 根據 (zh), 根据 (zh) (gēnjù), 按照 (zh) (ànzhào), 依據 (zh), 依据 (zh) (yījù)

• Czech: podle (cs)
• Danish: ifølge (da)
• Dutch: volgens (nl)
• Esperanto: laŭ (eo)
• Estonian: vastavalt, kohaselt, järgi
• Extremaduran: sigún
• Faroese: sambært
• Finnish: mukaan (fi)
• French: selon (fr), d'après (fr)
• Galician: segundo (gl)
• German: laut (de), gemäß (de), zufolge (de), nach (de) (+ dative case)
• Greek: σύμφωνα με (sýmfona me)

  Ancient Greek: κατά (katá) (+ acc.)

• Hebrew: לפי‎‎
• Hungarian: szerint (hu)
• Icelandic: samkvæmt (is)
• Ido: segun (io)
• Indonesian: menurut (id)

• Irish: dar le, de réir
• Italian: secondo (it), in base (it)
• Japanese: ...によると (ja) (...ni yoru to)
• Korean: ...에 따르면 (...e ddareumyon)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: به‌گوێره‌ی‎‎, به‌پێی‎‎

• Latin: in (la), secundum (la)
• Lithuanian: pasak (lt)
• Macedonian: според (spored)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ifølge (no)

  Nynorsk: ifylgje, ifølge, ifølgje

• Novial: segun
• Polish: według (pl), podług, wedle (pl)
• Portuguese: de acordo com (pt), segundo (pt)
• Romanian: conform (ro)
• Russian: согла́сно (ru) (soglásno) (+ dative case), в соотве́тствии с (ru) (v sootvétstvii s) (+ instrumental case)
• Scottish Gaelic: a rèir
• Serbo-Croatian: prema
• Slovak: podľa
• Spanish: según (es), acorde a
• Swedish: enligt (sv)
• Thai: ตามที่ (dtaam têe)
• Turkish: -e göre
• Venetian: par (vec), drìo, drio
• Vietnamese: theo (vi)
• West Frisian: neffens
• Yiddish: לויט‎‎ (loyt)

in proportion

• Afrikaans: ooreenkomstig
• Arabic: بِالنِّسْبَة لِـ‎‎ (bi-n-nisba li)
• Armenian: համապատասխան (hy) (hamapatasxan)
• Bulgarian: съответно (bg) (sǎotvetno), в съгласие с (v sǎglasie s)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 根據 (zh), 根据 (zh) (gēnjù), 按照 (zh) (ànzhào), 依據 (zh), 依据 (zh) (yījù)

• Czech: podle (cs)
• Danish: ifølge (da)
• Dutch: overeenkomstig (nl)
• Finnish: suhteessa
• French: selon (fr)
• German: entsprechend (de)
• Interlingua: secundo (ia)

• Italian: a seconda
• Japanese: の分だけ (no bun dake)
• Latin: in (la)
• Novial: segun
• Polish: odpowiednio (pl), zgodnie z (+ instrumental case)
• Portuguese: de acordo com (pt), segundo (pt)
• Russian: соотве́тственно (ru) (sootvétstvenno)
• Scottish Gaelic: a rèir
• Spanish: según (es), acorde a, de acuerdo a
• Swedish: enligt (sv), i enlighet med (sv)
• Ukrainian: згі́дно (zhídno), відпові́дно (vidpovídno)
• Vietnamese: tùy (vi), tùy theo (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} segun (io)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} menurut (id)

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} secundo (ia)
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} cedü