according to

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according to

1. Based on what is said or stated by; on the authority of; by the order of.

   Synonyms: as per, per, following

   Coordinate term: on the basis of

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

   According to Captain Smith, we are not to spend more than 20 minutes on this task.

   • 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:

     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.

2. In a manner conforming or corresponding to; in proportion to; in accordance with. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: as per, per, following

   Near-synonym: on the basis of

   You might expect him to balk, according to his temperament.

   • 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.

   • 2022 December 14, Robin Leleux, “A royal occasion as heritage projects honoured: Wolferton”, in RAIL, number 972, page 61:

     Over the past 20 years, the station complex - including the main platform buildings, signal box and level crossing gates - has been lovingly restored, with the gates replaced according to original plans.

3. Depending on.

   They might come or not, according to their whim.

• 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. The same underlying mechanism, a pluripotency for part of speech, can be seen with various other present participles (e.g., concerning, regarding, speaking of); see also absolute construction and dangling participle).
• The Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd edition, 2005, lists according (according to) as an adverb with the definition "as stated by or in: according to financial experts"; also "in a manner corresponding or conforming to: cook the rice according to the instructions" and "in proportion or relation to: salary will be fixed according to experience".