Etymologically
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evaluate

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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

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