assessor

Forms

assessor m (genitive assessōris); third declension^[1] Also spelled adsessor.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin assideō (“to sit beside”) + -tor,^[2][1] on the stem of the participle assessus; literally it is “one who sits beside”.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC) uses it of the augur whom the Spartans gave their kings as an adviser.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Its general sense was a person who sits beside someone to advise him, a counsellor.^[2][3] In legal language it became the assistant of a judge or magistrate, a sense found in Seneca, Suetonius and the Digest.^[3][2] Augustine calls Christ the assessor of the Father, since he sits at the Father's right hand.^[6]

In Late and Medieval Latin it was also a person who assessed taxes,^[1][7][4] and Niermeyer records it as well for one who assigned an annuity, and for a rider.^[7] English assessor was taken from it, partly through Old French, in the late 14th century, first for the assistant of a judge.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an augur who advised the Spartan kings.^[3][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a judge's assistant.^[3][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine calls Christ the assessor of the Father.^[6][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows it for a judge's assistant.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who sits beside another to advise him; a counsellor, aide.^[2][3]
2. (law) The assistant of a judge or magistrate, an assessor.^[2][3]
3. (Late Latin) An assessor of taxes.^[1][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) One who assigns an annuity.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A rider.^[7]

Word family

• assessorius

Related words

• English assessor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill