Carryovers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A transfer of an amount or quantity from one period to another, such as in accounting or budgeting
2. An ongoing advantage or benefit that persists from a previous situation or context
3. The continuation of a concept or item beyond its original timeframe, allowing for ongoing use or relevance

Etymology: "Carryovers" is the plural of "carryover," a noun formed from the phrasal verb "carry over." The verb is built from "carry," which came into English from Anglo-Norman and Old French "carier," and "over," an Old English word meaning above or across. Together they describe moving something across a boundary, and the noun names the thing that has been moved. The noun took on its accounting sense by describing whatever is shifted from one period to the next: a balance, a unused allowance, or an unfinished task that continues rather than being closed out. Its everyday meaning of "something left over" comes straight from that physical image of goods carried across a line, which is why the term fits budgets and ledgers so naturally.

Synonyms: transfers, rollovers