according to

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Preposition

according to

1. Based on what is said or stated by; on the authority of.
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 2, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:

     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; in accordance with. [from 16th c.],
   • 1695, Thomas Sprat, A Discourse Made by Ld Bishop of Rochester To the Clergy of his Diocese

     Our zeal should be according to knowledge.

   • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:

     there was only a frightening silence, unenlivened even by the invidious enquiries of former years, which culminated, according to its stern nature, in a still more frightening old woman, a figure awaiting her on the very doorstep.

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 Cocker
• according to Gunter
• according to Hoyle
• according to one's understanding
• according to plan
• cut one's coat according to one's cloth

 

Translations

based on statement

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

  Egyptian Arabic: على حسب‎ (ʿalā ḥasab)

• Armenian: համաձայն (hy) (hamajayn)
• Asturian: según
• Belarusian: паводле (pavódlje), зго́дна (з) (zhódna (z))
• Breton: hervez (br)
• 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), aldus (nl)
• Esperanto: laŭ (eo)
• Estonian: vastavalt, kohaselt, järgi
• Extremaduran: sigún
• Faroese: sambært
• Finnish: mukaan (fi)
• French: selon (fr), d'après (fr)
• Galician: segundo (gl), consonte (gl)
• Georgian: მიხედვით (mixedvit), შესაბამისად (šesabamisad), თანახმად (tanaxmad)
• German: laut (de), gemäß (de), zufolge (de), nach (de) (+ dative case)
• Gothic: 𐌰𐍆𐌰𐍂 (afar) (+ dative case)
• Greek: σύμφωνα με (sýmfona me)

  Ancient: κατά (katá) (+ accusative), συν (sun) (+ dative)

• Haitian Creole: dapre
• Hebrew: לפי‎ (he)
• Hindi: के मुताबिक़ (ke mutābiq)
• 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)
• Kapampangan: agpang king, agpang kang (for human objects)
• Korean: ...에 따르면 (...e ttareumyeon)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بەگوێرەی‎ (begwêrey), بەپێی‎ (bepêy)

• Latin: in (la), secundum (la)
• Lithuanian: pasak (lt)
• Macedonian: според (spored)
• Malayalam: പ്രകാരം (ml) (prakāraṃ), അനുസരിച്ച് (ml) (anusariccŭ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ifølge (no)

  Nynorsk: ifylgje, ifølge, ifølgje

• Occitan: segon (oc)
• Old English: æfter
• Persian: طبق‎ (fa) (tebqe)
• Polish: według (pl), podług (pl), wedle (pl)
• Portuguese: de acordo com (pt), segundo (pt), conforme (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, po (sh)
• Slovak: podľa
• Spanish: según (es), acorde a, con arreglo a (es), a tenor de (formal)
• Swedish: enligt (sv)
• Tagalog: ayon sa
• Tamil: படி (ta) (paṭi)
• Thai: ตามที่ (dtaam têe)
• Turkish: -e göre
• Ukrainian: згідно (zhidno)
• Urdu: بَقَول‎ (baqaul), بامُطابِق‎ (bamut̤ābiq), کے مطابق‎ (ke mutābiq)
• Venetian: par (vec), drìo, drio
• Vietnamese: theo (vi), theo như (vi)
• Welsh: yn ôl
• West Frisian: neffens
• Yiddish: לויט‎ (loyt)

in proportion

• Afrikaans: ooreenkomstig
• Arabic: بِالنِّسْبَة لِـ‎ (bi-n-nisba(t) 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)
• Georgian: მიხედვით (mixedvit)
• German: entsprechend (de)
• Hungarian: arányos (hu), megfelelő (hu), összhangban (lévő/álló)

• Interlingua: secundo (ia)
• Italian: a seconda
• Japanese: の分だけ (no bun dake)
• Latin: in (la)
• Old English: be
• Polish: odpowiednio (pl), zgodnie z (+ instrumental case)
• Portuguese: de acordo com (pt), segundo (pt), conforme (pt)
• Russian: соотве́тственно (ru) (sootvétstvenno)
• Scottish Gaelic: a rèir
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пре̏ма, у складу с, су̀кладно

  Roman: prȅma, u skladu s, sùkladno (sh)

• Spanish: según (es), acorde a, de acuerdo a, de acuerdo con
• 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. 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