assessment

noun

as·​sess·​ment ə-ˈses-mənt 

a-

1

: the action or an instance of making a judgment about something : the act of assessing something : appraisal

assessment of damages

an assessment of the president's achievements

2

: the amount assessed : an amount that a person is officially required to pay especially as a tax

the tax assessment on property

Did you know?

History of Assessment

Assessment has two meanings (“an amount that a person is officially required to pay” and “the act of making a judgment about something”) so distinct that one might rightfully wonder if they come from different sources. They do not.

Both are derived from related senses of assess, a verb that for over 500 years has meant “to determine the rate or amount of (a tax).” The monetary sense of assessment is tied to this oldest use of assess. By the 19th century, the verb’s object shifted slightly to produce a new meaning, “to make an official valuation of (property) for the purposes of taxation.” It was but a short step from here to the broadened sense “to make a judgment about” that is the basis of assessment “the act of making a judgment.”

Synonyms of assessment

• tax

Examples of assessment in a Sentence

It's a difficult problem that requires careful assessment.

I don't agree with his assessment of the problem.

The owners claimed the tax assessment on their house was too high.

Recent Examples on the Web

In a situation where a company finds substantiated evidence of either type of violation carried out by an indirect supplier, they are mandated to perform an ad hoc risk assessment of that body, too. —Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 3 Feb. 2026

Schuster said using the EPA assessment funds helps identify environmental issues before redevelopment and reduces reliance on local taxpayer money for these studies. —Dallas Morning News, 3 Feb. 2026

Throw in different playing surfaces, and schedules that feature fewer days off between games, and those variables alter the assessment of the effects on expanding the seasons. —Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Feb. 2026

Since then, the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale has inspired countless other researchers, including Lewis Terman, who transformed the original framework into the Stanford-Binet Test, the standard IQ assessment in the United States for most of the 20th century. —Big Think, 3 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

see assess

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing assessment

• self-assessment
• special assessment

Rhymes for assessment

• impressment
• reassessment

Kids Definition

assessment

noun

as·​sess·​ment ə-ˈses-mənt 

a-

1

: the act of assessing

2

: the amount or value assessed