assessment

noun as·sess·ment \ ə-ˈses-mənt , a- \

|Updated on: 5 Jul 2018

Examples: assessment in a Sentence

Editor's Note: History of assessment

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

See assessment defined for English-language learners

See assessment defined for kids

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 of assessment from the Web

In the only assessment of actual behavior, the participants got to stick pins into a computer image of a doll representing a close friend, a common lab test of violent tendencies.

— sharon begley, STAT, "Can zapping people’s brains reduce violence? Controversial study sees potential," 2 July 2018
In regular session, the council held hearings and approved the levy and collection of annual assessments in the Coastal Rail Trail Maintenance District and the Solana Beach Lighting District.

— laura groch, sandiegouniontribune.com, "How they voted, July 1," 1 July 2018
The repairs, a result of recent water valve assessments, will go from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting Monday, July 9, Fulton officials said.

— david ibata, ajc, "Holcomb Bridge in Roswell to see lane closures," 30 June 2018
NBC News agreed to withhold some details of the latest intelligence assessment that officials said could put sources at risk.

— NBC News, "North Korea has increased nuclear production at secret sites, say U.S. officials," 29 June 2018
Goldman Sachs, which is at the bullish end of Netflix assessments, finds that subscriber growth correlates with the rate at which newcontent is added.

— The Economist, "Netflix is moving television beyond time-slots and national markets," 28 June 2018
Steven Ruiz's assessment of Bengals starting quarterback Andy Dalton's biggest weakness is tough but some would say fair.

— dave clark, Cincinnati.com, "USA TODAY examines Andy Dalton's weakness, slams AJ McCarron," 28 June 2018
Others on the council say the risk assessment may not be entirely necessary.

— vinny vella, Philly.com, "A calculated risk? Delaware County Council makes slow progress after six months of debating pipeline study," 27 June 2018
More than 91 percent of the time, the algorithm, using only the transciripts, aligned with the more extensive assessments of a team of child and adolescent psychiatrists, who also had access to information from parents and schools.

— randy rieland, Smithsonian, "Can Artificial Intelligence Help Stop School Shootings?," 22 June 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.

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.”