"Accountability" stems from late Latin accomptare (to account), a prefixed form of computare (to [[calculate]]), which in turn derived from putare (to reckon). While the [[word]] itself does not appear in [[English]] until its use in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_century 13th century] Norman England, the concept of account-giving has ancient roots in record keeping activities related to governance and money-lending systems that first developed in Ancient Israel, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and later, Rome. | "Accountability" stems from late Latin accomptare (to account), a prefixed form of computare (to [[calculate]]), which in turn derived from putare (to reckon). While the [[word]] itself does not appear in [[English]] until its use in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_century 13th century] Norman England, the concept of account-giving has ancient roots in record keeping activities related to governance and money-lending systems that first developed in Ancient Israel, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and later, Rome. |