Etymology
1. 1423, "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.
assidere "to sit beside" (and thus to assist in the office of a judge), from
ad- "to" +
sedere "to sit." One of the judge's assistant's jobs was to fix the amount of a fine or tax. Meaning "to estimate the value of property for the purpose of taxing it" is from 1809; transf. sense of "to judge the value of a person, idea, etc." is from 1934.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
4. Proto-Italic *ad
5. Proto-Italic *ad-
6. Latin ad-
7. Proto-Indo-European *sed-
8. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti
9. Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
10. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti
11. Proto-Indo-European *sedéh₁yeti
12. Proto-Italic *sedēō
13. Latin sedeō
14. Latin assideō
15. Latin assessus
16. Medieval Latin assessareder.
17. Old French assesserbor.
18. Middle English assessen
19. English assess
20. 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”). See: Spanish '
asentar'.
Verbs referencing "assess"
Spanish
asear, Spanish
asentar, Welsh
asesu.