assessment

American  

[uh-ses-muhnt] / əˈsɛs mənt /

noun

• assessments
  plural

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

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assessments
  plural

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

See Examples For:

assessment assessments

The Food and Drug Administration states that its safety assessment included more than 110 studies addressing potential toxic effects, along with human clinical research.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

He said I had potential—a deadly word when you are waiting for an assessment of your performance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

That assessment did not come from Taco Bell.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

Altman and Elon Musk, who owns xAI, both agreed with Amodei's assessment.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

The second section addresses personal assessment in relation to your professional development and career goals.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The 2023 study reported potentially important effects in laboratory systems, while subsequent assessments have not established that ordinary sucralose consumption causes the same harm in people.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

The amount spent on administration costs and medical assessments is more than double the £32m paid out in financial support to victims so far.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Positive responses were defined as receiving interview requests, a mix of phone and video screenings, positive email responses or assessments to be completed.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

National climate assessments are important because their projections can inform federal infrastructure planning, risk assessments, regulations, disaster preparedness and cost-benefit analyses, including from hazards such as wildfires, floods, drought and sea-level rise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

I also knew that the women’s national team members went to camp at the ranch every four to six weeks for skills training and assessments, known as verifications.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

Related Words

• appraisal
• estimate
• judgment