assessor

American  

[uh-ses-er] / əˈsɛs ər /

noun

1. a person who makes assessments, especially for purposes of taxation.

2. an adviser or assistant to a judge, especially one serving as a specialist in some field.

3. Archaic.

   1. a person who shares another's position, rank, or dignity.

   2. a person sitting beside another in an advisory capacity; an advisory associate.

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assessor British  

/ əˈsɛsə, ˌæsɛˈsɔːrɪəl /

noun

1. a person who evaluates the merits, importance, etc, of something, esp (in Britain) work prepared as part of a course of study

2. a person who values property for taxation

3. a person who estimates the value of damage to property for insurance purposes

4. a person with technical expertise called in to advise a court on specialist matters

5. a person who shares another's position or rank, esp in an advisory capacity

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Other Word Forms

• assessorial adjective
• assessorship noun

Etymology

Origin of assessor

1350–1400; Middle English assessour < Medieval Latin assessor one who assesses taxes, Latin: a judge's helper. See assess, -tor

Explanation

An assessor is a person whose job involves determining how much a house or building is worth. After an assessor establishes the value of a property, it can be taxed appropriately. An assessor, sometimes called a "tax assessor," works for a city or county, aiding the process of collecting taxes from people who own property there. In order to figure out how much someone owes, an assessor compares the person's house to the others in the neighborhood and tallies up things like square footage, number of rooms, and acres of land. In Latin an assessor is "an assistant," though in Late Latin it means "one who assesses taxes."

Example Sentences

Izen retired this month as the LAFD’s independent assessor, who reports to the commission and conducts audits of operations and the department’s handling of complaints.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

Samantha Steele, a former assessor for an Indiana county and current member of the Board of Review, says she forgoes campaign contributions from people with business before the board.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

The report is dated 14 October 2025 and was carried out by the council's fire risk assessor.

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

From there, The Times merged assessor parcel numbers of destroyed homes from the Cal Fire data with those of rebuilt homes from local and state building data obtained from each jurisdiction.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025

Doors were opening up and down the hallway: an insurance agent, the tax assessor, a dentist in a white coat, all poking their heads out to see what the fuss was about.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• authority
• court
• critic
• expert
• inspector
• justice
• referee