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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

assess.

To determine, estimate or judge the value of; to evaluate; to estimate.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/əˈsɛs/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈses/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. To determine, estimate or judge the value of; to evaluate; to estimate.

    transitive
    He assessed the situation.
    An insurance adjuster will assess the damage.
  2. To impose or charge, especially as punishment for an infraction.

    transitive
    The referee assessed a penalty for delaying the game.
    A $10.00 late fee will be assessed on all overdue accounts.
  3. To calculate and demand (the tax money due) from a person or entity.

    transitive
    Once you've submitted a tax return, the Tax Department will assess the amount of tax you still owe.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *sed- Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *sedéh₁yeti Proto-Italic *sedēō Latin sedeō Latin assideō Latin assessus Medieval Latin assessareder. Old French assesserbor. Middle English assessen English assess From Middle English assessen, from Old French assesser, from Medieval Latin assessare, originally the frequentative of Latin assessus, past participle of assidēre, from ad (“to, towards, at”) + sedeō (“sit; settle down”). Cognate with Spanish asentar (“to settle”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.