assessment

American  

[uh-ses-muhnt] / əˈsɛs mənt /

noun

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

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

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

“We got to learn by stopping, taking an assessment, and listening to the community. And we really wanted to change the culture of Fringe.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026

"The minister has committed to having construction work suspended and to ensuring that a full environmental impact assessment is carried out," they said.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

Published in the journal Drugs, the review offers the most comprehensive assessment to date of where opioids help, where they do not, and where evidence remains limited.

From Science Daily • Jun. 9, 2026

This shows you your financial account history but does not give you a credit score, which is the risk assessment that lenders use to assess your chances of defaulting.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

In business, education, science, and so forth, most productivity is determined by an evaluation of employees or students, and funding is often allocated based on that assessment.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Related Words

• appraisal
• estimate
• judgment