assessment

American  

[uh-ses-muhnt] / əˈsɛs mənt /

noun

• assessments
  plural

1. the act of assessing; appraisal; evaluation.

2. an official valuation of property for the purpose of levying a tax; an assigned value.

3. an amount assessed as payable.

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assessment British  

/ əˈsɛsmənt /

noun

1. the act of assessing, esp (in Britain) the evaluation of a student's achievement on a course

2. an amount determined as payable

3. a valuation set on taxable property, income, etc

4. evaluation; estimation

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assessment Cultural  

1. The appraisal of property for the purposes of taxation.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misassessment
  noun
• overassessment
  noun
• reassessment
  noun
• self-assessment
  noun
• proassessment
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assessments
  plural

Etymology

Origin of assessment

First recorded in 1530–40; assess + -ment

Explanation

Assessment is a word you hear a lot around schools — an assessment is an evaluation, and one type of assessment is used to measure what someone knows or has learned. Tests and term papers can be assessment tools. More than just students are given assessments. You might bring your dad's plastic gnome collection to an expert for an assessment and find out it's worth all of $15.35. You might make a quick assessment of a sticky situation — say it's you, a tasty ham sandwich, and your hungry dog— and decide to run.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assessment assessments

The reason for the increase in fees and the special assessment of around $2,500 was that the condo association needed more money to keep its insurance policy.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

The Fitzroy now needs to pass a final assessment of its design, value for money and long-term community legacy.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

One U.S. official told The Times that the blunt assessment accurately reflects private thinking inside Xi’s government about the growing risks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

At an invitation-only gathering of dozens of America’s top executives in Washington this week, business leaders overwhelmingly disagreed with the president’s assessment that dangers posed by artificial intelligence are being exaggerated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

The police can easily argue, if challenged, that non-racial factors—such as gender, age, attire and location—played a role in their assessment.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

His homeowners association fees have been creeping up to nearly $470 per month, and that’s on top of expenses stemming from special assessments he’s had to cough up.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

“AI can handle the risk assessments and recommendations in the reports; we only need to provide the source material,” one staffer wrote in an internal chat in early 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

But those assessments reflect how things stand today.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

He will stay at the hospital until he is deemed fit to be released back to society, and would likely be subject to yearly assessments.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Let us not forget, however, that such assessments must always remain incomplete and subject to revision.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Related Words

• appraisal
• estimate
• judgment