assessment

noun

as·sess·ment | \ ə-ˈses-mənt

, a-\

Definition of assessment

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

Synonyms History of Assessment More Example Sentences Learn More about assessment

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Synonyms for assessment

Synonyms

duty, imposition, impost, levy, tax

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.”

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

The high court has said these factors, named after a former death row inmate named Jose Briseno, have no grounding in prevailing medical practice and invite lay stereotypes to guide assessment of such disability. — Juan A. Lozano, The Seattle Times, "Supreme Court rules out death penalty for Texas inmate," 19 Feb. 2019 Behind the scenes, the numbers bear out Mower’s assessment. — Vogue, "The Top 12 Collections of the Fall 2019 Menswear Season," 23 Jan. 2019 Five full size samples (including primary and secondary packaging) will be requested for product functionality review and packaging assessment. — Good Housekeeping, "Frequently Asked Questions About Good Housekeeping's Sustainability Awards," 7 Nov. 2018 Another important way for schools to keep kids safe is through threat assessment. — As Told To Beth Dreher And Elissa Sanci, Woman's Day, "How to Keep Our Kids Safe in School as the Gun Debate Rages On," 25 Sep. 2018 The company developed the reputation assessment system over the past year as part of its ongoing efforts to combat the spread of fake news. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Recode Daily: Trump’s personal lawyer pleaded guilty and his campaign chief was convicted," 22 Aug. 2018 Many are referred to the center by Orange County Jail staffers, who find possible victims while conducting assessments during the intake process for new inmates. — Stephen Hudak, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Orange County's crisis shelter for human-trafficking victims is full — and that may be a good thing," 12 July 2018 Google wasn't exactly wrong in its assessments, but SPDY was something of a unilateral act, with Google responsible for the design and functionality. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Google isn’t the company that we should have handed the Web over to," 17 Dec. 2018 To motivate people to make accurate assessments of their performance, financial rewards were given when their confidence matched their performance. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Political radicals don’t evaluate their own errors—about anything," 21 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'assessment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.