An assessment is a judgment or measurement of how good, strong, or valuable something is, often through tests or careful study.
It comes from Latin *assessus*, past participle of *assidere* 'to sit beside (as a judge)', through Old French *assesser*. Originally it referred to setting a tax amount, then widened to mean any formal evaluation.
The root idea of someone 'sitting beside' you to judge or help decide is still hidden in the word. That’s exactly what a good teacher or evaluator does: they sit beside your work, not above you, to figure out what’s really going on.
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