What Does Take Into Account Mean?

The words "take into account" together form an idiom. They refer to the mental act of taking some fact into consideration before acting. Taking into account also means planning or allowing for something that is a possibility. It also refers to the act of conceding the validity or truth of something.  A similar phrase is "to bear in mind" and antonyms of the phrase include take no account of or leave out of account. Certain times the results or outcomes can be materially different depending on what was taken into account and what was ignored.

Examples of "take into account" being used in sentences are "the American military failed to take into account the Baathist threat in Iraq", or "he won cause he took into account the duration of the race and how to pace himself accordingly".