evaluate

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈvæl.ju.eɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from evaluation (18th century),^[2][3][4] or else borrowed from French évaluer, itself formed from évaluation,^[2][3] from es-, out (Latin ex-), and Old French value (see value).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Originally in mathematics, to work out the value of: 1831 in Etymonline;^[2] 1842 in the OED and Merriam-Webster.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, to judge the worth of something, followed in the 19th century,^[6][3] and is now the commonest use.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 18th century – evaluation.^[3]
• 1831 – evaluate, in mathematics.^[2]
• 1842 – to reckon up, assess.^[6][4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To find out or fix the value or amount of.
2. To examine and judge carefully; to appraise.
3. (mathematics) To calculate the numerical value of an expression or function.

Word family

• evaluation
• evaluative
• evaluator
• unevaluated
• misevaluate
• reevaluate

Related words

• value
• valuation

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins