assessor

American  

[uh-ses-er] / əˈsɛs ər /

noun

• assessors
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• assessorship
  noun
• assessorial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assessors
  plural

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

See Examples For:

assessor assessors

Alan had worked as a landscape gardener before launching a training and life-coaching business, while Katie was an actuary, or risk assessor, for a financial firm.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

Jesse Salinas, the voter registrar, assessor, and clerk-recorder of California’s Yolo County who serves as president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, said there is a tradeoff between speed and security.

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026

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

A state tax tribunal ruled that the Pung estate was entitled to the exemption, but the local assessor appealed and reported the property as delinquent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

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

Home builder lawyers say that plaintiff lawyers are relying on flawed testing methods and mold assessors with questionable qualifications, while taking advantage of a growing hysteria across the country about mold’s health effects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

If a new homeowner purchased a property at a significantly higher purchase price as compared to the home’s last assessed value, local tax assessors could update the property value, and that could mean higher taxes.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Auditors are intended to be objective assessors of financial information.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

The most important people in the country all along were the rule-followers—corporate attorneys, regional judges, visa-processing functionaries, tax assessors, customs officials, food and drug regulators.

From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2025

But most of us are, like Molly’s parents, terrible risk assessors.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Related Words

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