assess

assess
\ \ [15] The literal meaning of Latin assidēre, ultimate source of assess, was ‘sit beside someone’ (it was a compound verb formed from the prefix ad- ‘near’ and sedēresit’, a relative of English sit). This developed the secondary meaning ‘sit next to a judge and assist him in his deliberations’ (which lies behind English assize), and in medieval Latin the sense passed from helping the judge to performing his functions, particularly in fixing the amount of a fine or tax to be paid. Hence English assess, which came via Old French assesser from Latin assess-, the past participial stem of assidēre. (The Latin adjective assiduus, formed from assidēre in the sense ‘apply oneself to something’, gave English assiduous [16].)
\ \ Cf.ASSIDUOUS, ASSIZE, SESSION, SIT, SIZE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • assess — as‧sess [əˈses] verb [intransitive, transitive] 1. to make a judgement about a person or situation after considering all the information: • This information is needed to assess efficiency and effectiveness. assess that • The federal government… …   Financial and business terms

  • assess — as·sess /ə ses/ vt 1: to determine the rate or amount of (as a tax) 2 a: to impose (as a tax) according to an established rate b: to subject to a tax, charge, or levy each property owner was assess ed an additional five dollars 3 …   Law dictionary

  • Assess — As*sess , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Assessed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Assessing}.] [OF. assesser to regulate, settle, LL. assessare to value for taxation, fr. L. assidere, supine as if assessum, to sit by, esp. of judges in a court, in LL. to assess, tax.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • assess — [v1] evaluate, determine appraise, apprise, assay, check*, check out*, compute, determine, dig it*, estimate, figure*, fix, gauge, guess, judge, nick*, peg*, rate, reckon, set, size*, size up, survey, take measure*, valuate, value, weigh; concept …   New thesaurus

  • assess — (v.) early 15c., to fix the amount (of a tax, fine, etc.), from Anglo Fr. assesser, from M.L. assessare fix a tax upon, originally frequentative of L. assessus a sitting by, pp. of assidere to sit beside (and thus to assist in the office of a… …   Etymology dictionary

  • assess — assay, appraise, value, evaluate, *estimate, rate Analogous words: *calculate, compute, reckon …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • assess — ► VERB 1) evaluate or estimate. 2) set the value of a tax, fine, etc. for (a person or property). DERIVATIVES assessable adjective assessment noun assessor noun. ORIGIN Old French assesser, from Latin assidere sit by (later levy tax) …   English terms dictionary

  • assess — [ə ses′] vt. [ME assessen < OFr assesser < ML assessare, to impose a tax, set a rate < L assessus, pp. of assidere, to sit beside, assist in the office of judge < ad , to + sedere, to SIT] 1. to set an estimated value on (property,… …   English World dictionary

  • assess — 01. We will use the first week of classes to [assess] your speaking ability. 02. The [assessment] of your language skills will include a speaking test and an essay assignment. 03. It may take weeks to [assess] the total damage caused by the… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • assess — verb 1 form an opinion ADVERB ▪ fully ▪ accurately, correctly, properly ▪ carefully ▪ She carefully assessed the situation …   Collocations dictionary

  • assess */*/ — UK [əˈses] / US verb [transitive] Word forms assess : present tense I/you/we/they assess he/she/it assesses present participle assessing past tense assessed past participle assessed 1) to carefully consider a situation, person, or problem in… …   English dictionary

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