assessment

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

|Updated on: 21 Jun 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

His fight with Rhodes began with a complaint, too, this time when the auditor’s three-year re-assessment of property values in 2017 resulted in his condo’s value climbing from $44,000 to $72,000.

— dan horn, Cincinnati.com, "Politics or bad break? How one man's tax bill became a headache for Auditor Dusty Rhodes," 18 June 2018
Lexplore already has a foothold in Sweden and is looking to grow in the already crowded American market for early reading assessment.

— lisa wood shapiro, WIRED, "The End of Dyslexia," 18 June 2018
For older areas that make the switch, it’s usually funded through assessment districts initiated by residents.

— hillary davis, latimes.com, "Higher-than-expected bids prolong process of putting Newport utility lines underground," 16 June 2018
As with the 1995 study, the researchers recorded conversations between parents and their children, counting the number of words and conducting other linguistic assessments.

— laura mckenna, The Atlantic, "The Long, Contentious History of the ‘Word Gap’ Study," 15 June 2018
Winslow will remain jailed without bail after the judge in Vista, Calif., agreed with Owens' assessment that Winslow poses a danger to the community.

— a.j. perez, USA TODAY, "Could Kellen Winslow Jr.'s lawyers use CTE as a defense in sex-crimes case?," 15 June 2018
Teams with mental health professionals give field assessments.

— zoie matthew, Los Angeles Magazine, "Here’s What’s Being Done to End L.A.’s Homelessness Crisis," 14 June 2018
Amendment 2, Limitations on Property Tax Assessments, another property tax proposal referred by the Legislature, would cement an existing cap on non-homestead property assessments.

— elizabeth koh, miamiherald, "Here are the 13 constitutional amendments on Florida's 2018 ballot and what they do," 14 June 2018
Customers repay the loans through a property tax assessment that’s recorded as a lien.

— ron hurtibise, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Will new federal rules slow PACE of energy-efficiency storm-hardening home upgrade program?," 13 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.”