Evaluation

How to spell evaluation

10 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce evaluation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does evaluation mean?

1. nounThe act of judging or determining the value, quality, or significance of something.

Evaluation in a sentence

• The manager scheduled a performance evaluation for every team member.

• A careful evaluation of the figures revealed a costly error.

Where does evaluation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb valere, which literally meant 'to be strong' or 'to be worth', the same root that gives us 'value', 'valid', and 'valour'. In Old French this developed into the verb evaluer, 'to find the value of', formed with the prefix that suggests drawing the worth out of something. English borrowed the related noun 'evaluation' in the nineteenth century, originally in mathematical and scientific contexts where a quantity was reckoned or appraised, before it broadened into the everyday sense of judging the quality or significance of anything. The spelling keeps the smooth 'valu' core intact, with a 'u' that is easy to drop in writing, and the long '-ation' ending that signals a process or result. Because the stem hides the same 'value' you already know, holding that word in mind makes the middle of evaluation easier to get right.

How the word is built

• e- (out, from Latin ex)
• valu (from valere: to be worth, be strong)
• -ation (noun of action)