estimate

American  

[es-tuh-meyt, es-tuh-mit, -meyt] / ˈɛs təˌmeɪt, ˈɛs tə mɪt, -ˌmeɪt /

verb (used with object)

estimated, estimating

1. to form an approximate judgment or opinion regarding the worth, amount, size, weight, etc., of; calculate approximately.

   to estimate the cost of a college education.

   Synonyms:

   appraise, evaluate, value, assess, gauge, reckon, count, compute

2. to form an opinion of; judge.

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verb (used without object)

estimated, estimating

1. to make an estimate.

noun

1. an approximate judgment or calculation, as of the value, amount, time, size, or weight of something.

   Synonyms:

   appraisal, calculation, valuation

2. a judgment or opinion, as of the qualities of a person or thing.

3. a statement of the approximate charge for work to be done, submitted by a person or business firm ready to undertake the work.

estimate British  

verb

1. to form an approximate idea of (distance, size, cost, etc); calculate roughly; gauge

2. (tr; may take a clause as object) to form an opinion about; judge

   to estimate one's chances

3. to submit (an approximate price) for (a job) to a prospective client

4. (tr) statistics to assign a value (a point estimate ) or range of values (an interval estimate ) to a parameter of a population on the basis of sampling statistics See estimator

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noun

1. an approximate calculation

2. a statement indicating the likely charge for or cost of certain work

3. a judgment; appraisal; opinion

Other Word Forms

• estimatingly adverb
• estimative adjective
• estimator noun
• preestimate verb (used with object)
• reestimate verb (used with object)
• self-estimate noun
• unestimated adjective
• well-estimated adjective

Etymology

Origin of estimate

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin aestimātus “valued,” past participle of aestimāre “to value, fix the value of”

Example Sentences

Stripping out certain one-off items, Capri logged adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 81 cents a share, compared to the mean analyst estimate of 78 cents a share, as per FactSet.

From The Wall Street Journal

Other issues raised include whether insurers are using artificial intelligence to review claims and what recourse victims have when they receive payout estimates they believe are far below their home value.

From Los Angeles Times

They found that people with ancestry from the north-west of Ireland have the highest risk of developing haemochromatosis, with one in 54 people estimated to carry the genetic variant.

From BBC

JPMorgan raised its year-end estimates to $6,300 an ounce, driven by exceptionally strong demand from investors and central banks.

From The Wall Street Journal

Census Bureau estimates analyzed by Dany Bahar, a Venezuelan economist and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• appraisal
• assessment
• conclusion
• estimation
• evaluation
• guess
• measure
• measurement
• opinion
• projection
• rating
• survey
• valuation