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overestimate

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Etymology and origin of the English word overestimate

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1768 More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origins
English over-Latin aestimatus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English estimate
English overestimate
From the same root
English underestimate ← estimate

Pronunciation

  • /ˌəʊvəɹˈɛstɪmeɪt/, /ˌəʊvəɹˈɛstɪmət/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English over- + estimate.[2][3][4][5][6] The OED forms the verb from the verb estimate and the noun from the noun, after the verb, and compares the earlier overesteem, recorded from before 1639.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To estimate too highly, to overvalue: Etymonline dates the verb to 1768;[3] the OED's first quotation is from 1797, in Thomas Holcroft's novel Adventures of Hugh Trevor.[2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1815–25.[6]

Semantic evolution

The verb was used from the start both of numbers and quantities and of judging something to be larger, better or more important than it is.[2] The noun followed in 1828, first of a numerical estimate that is too high, and also of an appraisal that is too favourable.[2][5] The noun overestimation is dated 1793 by Etymonline and 1808 by the OED.[3][2]

Timeline

  • 1768 – verb, to estimate too highly.[3] The OED's first quotation is from 1797.[2]
  • 1828 – noun, an estimate that is too high, or too favourable an appraisal.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To estimate a number or amount as larger than it really is: The planners overestimated the cost of the bridge.[7][4][2]
  2. To think too highly of someone or something; to overvalue: Don't overestimate your rivals.[8][4][2]

Noun

  1. An estimate that is too high.[7][4][2]

Word family

  • overestimation

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cite this entry

“Overestimate.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/overestimate. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·