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

But most importantly, the chief of staff should be the president’s most trusted adviser, willing to provide an honest assessment and opinion on all the important issues that reach the Resolute Desk.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

The Times: Doubling back to the Palisades fire, what is your assessment of the recovery?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

An FDA spokesperson said the agency will decide whether to take action after its assessment, but didn’t say when that might be.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

They're not mentioned anywhere in the latest update from the IOC and World Rowing and they weren't considered in the technical assessment.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

If we constantly had to qualify every assessment of those around us, how would we make sense of the world?

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

His homeowners association fees have been creeping up to nearly $470 per month, and that’s on top of expenses stemming from special assessments he’s had to cough up.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

Osman was reunited with her family following the rescue and was also taken to hospital for treatment, and for physical and mental health assessments, local media reported.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

In South Florida, they are already stretched by soaring insurance, taxes, flood exposure, homeowners association dues and potential assessments, Wands said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

But those assessments reflect how things stand today.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

Madison was relaying state-by-state assessments to Monticello, which were also being reported in the local press.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• appraisal
• estimate
• judgment