assessor
Americannoun
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a person who makes assessments, especially for purposes of taxation.
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an adviser or assistant to a judge, especially one serving as a specialist in some field.
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Archaic.
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a person who shares another's position, rank, or dignity.
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a person sitting beside another in an advisory capacity; an advisory associate.
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noun
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a person who evaluates the merits, importance, etc, of something, esp (in Britain) work prepared as part of a course of study
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a person who values property for taxation
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a person who estimates the value of damage to property for insurance purposes
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a person with technical expertise called in to advise a court on specialist matters
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a person who shares another's position or rank, esp in an advisory capacity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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."
Vocabulary lists containing assessor
To Kill a Mockingbird
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The Suffix -or, Part 2
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"The Night Before Christmas" by Nikolai Gogol
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
In 2012, county assessor John Noguez was charged with accepting bribes in return for lower property assessments, leading to a court battle that’s still going.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
He said he would "fix this mess" by appointing a chief assessor to ensure greater stability.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026
“The regulatory entomologists ... function as prosecutor, judge and jury, tax assessor and collector and sheriff to enforce their own orders,” said Connecticut entomologist Neely Turner.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
