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 Press accounts in Nigeria focused on the group’s assessment that the emergence of two additional viable opposition parties could lead to a run-off election next year, which would be the country’s first. — Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland, 26 July 2022 To purchase a weapon, the country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks. — Jim Morris, ajc, 26 July 2022 To purchase a weapon, the country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks. — Jim Morris, Anchorage Daily News, 25 July 2022 Digital health solutions have provided at-home monitoring, screenings, diagnostics, telehealth support for at-home assessment, treatment, health coaching, care management and telepharmacy for at-home prescription delivery and management. — Reza Amin, Forbes, 25 July 2022 To purchase a weapon, the country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks. — Fox News, 25 July 2022 To purchase a weapon, the country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks. — Jim Morris, USA TODAY, 25 July 2022 The first comprehensive assessment of their impact, released earlier this year, estimates that drug-resistant bacteria directly killed over a million people in 2019 and played a part in the deaths of several million more people that year. — Wired, 22 July 2022 Self-evaluations, and an assessment of an employee’s own accomplishments relative to their objectives, were introduced earlier this year after employees complained about managers having too much influence in the review process. — Tristan Bove, Fortune, 22 July 2022 See More

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.