Estimation

How to spell estimation

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce estimation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does estimation mean?

1. nounA rough calculation or considered judgement of the size, value, or extent of something.
2. nounThe respect or high regard in which a person or thing is held.

Estimation in a sentence

• The builder gave a quick estimation of the repair costs.

• Her honesty raised her in the estimation of her colleagues.

• By my estimation the journey will take about three hours.

• The veteran teacher was held in high estimation across the school.

Where does estimation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb aestimare, which meant 'to value, to appraise, or to set a price on something'. From that verb Latin formed aestimatio, the act of valuing or the worth assigned to a thing, and English took the word in through Old French estimacion during the late 1300s. The earliest English uses leaned on the financial sense of reckoning a value, but the meaning broadened to cover any reasoned judgement of size, quantity, or quality. A second strand survives in the everyday sense of regard or esteem, the worth in which a person is held; indeed 'esteem' is simply a close cousin grown from the very same aestimare root. The silent middle is worth noting for spelling: the calm 'esti-' opening and the standard '-ation' ending make it more regular than it first looks.

How the word is built

• estim- (from Latin aestimare: to value, appraise)
• -ation (noun of action/result)