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

So savers and investors, large and small, can deposit money in a bank that thus handles risk assessment and monitoring. —Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 7 Dec. 2025

Moss is 100 percent correct with his assessment of Rodgers and Pittsburgh. —Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2025

According to the researchers, the discovery highlights how little is known about deep-ocean ecosystems and underscores the need for rigorous environmental assessments before large-scale mining is allowed to proceed. —Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 7 Dec. 2025

Her assessment of Soviet and later Russian leadership is clear-eyed, seeing the yearning of the Russian people for a hard-nosed protector, like the former tsars, in Russia’s support for Putin. —The Know, Denver Post, 7 Dec. 2025

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