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appraise

[uh-preyz]
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verb (used with object), ap·praised, ap·prais·ing.
  1. to estimate the monetary value of; determine the worth of; assess: We had an expert appraise the house before we bought it.
  2. to estimate the nature, quality, importance, etc.: He tried to appraise the poetry of John Updike.
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Origin of appraise

1400–50; late Middle English apraysen to set a value on, probably a conflation of aprisen to apprize1 and preisen to praise (with sense of prize2)
Related formsap·prais·a·ble, adjectiveap·prais·er, nounap·prais·ing·ly, adverbap·prais·ive, adjectivemis·ap·praise, verb (used with object), mis·ap·praised, mis·ap·prais·ing.o·ver·ap·praise, verb (used with object), o·ver·ap·praised, o·ver·ap·prais·ing.re·ap·praise, verb (used with object), re·ap·praised, re·ap·prais·ing.un·ap·praised, adjective
Can be confusedappraise apprise
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for appraise

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • She was little concerned with the morality of her course as others might appraise it.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • The only standard by which the majority of us appraise our work is man's.

  • It would have been easier to appraise had there been a workable alternative.

    End of the Tether

    Joseph Conrad

  • To collect, scrutinise, and appraise facts is his chief business.Science.

  • Its efficiency is not the efficiency which the business engineer is fitted to appraise.

    The Frontier in American History

    Frederick Jackson Turner

British Dictionary definitions for appraise

appraise

verb (tr)
  1. to assess the worth, value, or quality of
  2. to make a valuation of, as for taxation purposes
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Derived Formsappraisable, adjectiveappraiser, nounappraisingly, adverbappraisive, adjectiveappraisively, adverb

Word Origin

C15: from Old French aprisier, from prisier to prize ²

usage

Appraise is sometimes wrongly used where apprise is meant: they had been apprised (not appraised) of my arrival
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for appraise

v.

c.1400, "to set a value on," from stem of Old French aprisier "apraise, set a price on" (14c., Modern French apprécier), from Late Latin appretiare "value, estimate," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + pretium "price" (see price (n.)). Original English spelling apprize altered by influence of praise. Related: Appraised; appraising.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper