estimate

[es-tuh-meyt, es-tuh-mit, -meyt]

verb (used with object)

estimated, estimating 

1. to form an approximate judgment or opinion regarding the worth, amount, size, weight, etc., of; calculate approximately.

   to estimate the cost of a college education.

   Synonyms: appraise, evaluate, value, assess, gauge, reckon, count, compute

2. to form an opinion of; judge.

verb (used without object)

estimated, estimating 

1. to make an estimate.

noun

1. an approximate judgment or calculation, as of the value, amount, time, size, or weight of something.

   Synonyms: appraisal, calculation, valuation

2. a judgment or opinion, as of the qualities of a person or thing.

3. a statement of the approximate charge for work to be done, submitted by a person or business firm ready to undertake the work.

estimate

verb

1. to form an approximate idea of (distance, size, cost, etc); calculate roughly; gauge

2. (tr; may take a clause as object) to form an opinion about; judge

   to estimate one's chances

3. to submit (an approximate price) for (a job) to a prospective client

4. (tr) statistics to assign a value (a point estimate ) or range of values (an interval estimate ) to a parameter of a population on the basis of sampling statistics See estimator

noun

1. an approximate calculation

2. a statement indicating the likely charge for or cost of certain work

3. a judgment; appraisal; opinion

Other Word Forms

• estimatingly adverb
• estimator noun
• preestimate noun
• reestimate noun
• self-estimate noun
• unestimated adjective
• well-estimated adjective
• estimative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of estimate¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin aestimātus “valued,” past participle of aestimāre “to value, fix the value of”

Word History and Origins

Origin of estimate¹

C16: from Latin aestimāre to assess the worth of, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

The Partnership for Public Service, a bipartisan group studying the government, estimated the federal workforce had been reduced by about 200,000 employees as of 23 September.

Read more on BBC

The Sonoma growers group is estimating that between 2,000 to 5,000 acres of vineyards could be removed over the next several years and assume not all of those will be replanted.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The global population of Chagossians is estimated to be about 10,000, with many of them living in Mauritius, the Seychelles or the UK.

Read more on BBC

“Essentially back then it was a solo pursuit,” said Bunker, who estimates that he now has between 400 and 500 apple varieties on his land.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“We see downside risk to consensus revenue estimates from ongoing mortgage runoff, sub-system business loan growth, and lending competition,” MS says.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• appraisal 
• assessment 
• conclusion 
• estimation 
• evaluation 
• guess 
• measure 
• measurement 
• opinion 
• projection 
• rating 
• survey 
• valuation