valuation

American  

[val-yoo-ey-shuhn] / ˌvæl yuˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of estimating or setting the value of something; appraisal.

2. an estimated value or worth.

3. the awareness or acknowledgment of the quality, nature, excellence, or the like of something.

   public valuation of the importance of education.

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valuation British  

/ ˌvæljʊˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of valuing, esp a formal assessment of the worth of property, jewellery, etc

2. the price arrived at by the process of valuing

   the valuation of this property is considerable

   I set a high valuation on technical ability

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Other Word Forms

• prevaluation noun
• self-valuation noun
• valuational adjective
• valuationally adverb

Etymology

Origin of valuation

1520–30; value + -ation; compare Middle French valuation

Compare meaning

How does valuation compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• evaluation vs. valuation

Explanation

The process of figuring out exactly how much something is worth is known as valuation. Before you sell your old Pokemon cards, you should take them to an expert for a valuation. Whenever you determine the monetary value of something, that's valuation. However, you're most likely to come across this word in the context of banking or finance. The valuation of a company affects whether or not investors are interested in it, and the valuation of stocks determines how much a stockholder makes when she sells them. Valuation shares a root with value, from the Latin root valere, "be strong, be worth."

Example Sentences

Even after the recent jump, Visa shares remain rather on the low side in terms of their relative valuation to the market.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

GameStop is likely considering the possibility of the combined entity trading at a “meme multiple,” Sebastian added, meaning that the company could see valuation expansion from hype and retail-investor enthusiasm instead of fundamentals.

From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026

Any potential move, the Journal noted, would come as Cohen sets his sights on expanding the company’s market valuation to at least $100 billion.

From MarketWatch • May 3, 2026

Nextdoor was a fraction the size of Square, both in terms of employees and valuation.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026

Of his niece he did not think at all, nor of the arbitrary valuation of the money.

From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

Related Words

• assessment
• cost
• estimate