Etymograph

English

assessor

Assessor comes from Latin assessor ‘assistant judge’, from assideō ‘to sit near’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sedēō1‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeō1‘sit’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEassideō2‘to sit near’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEassessor3‘assistant judge’perfect passive participle of assideō
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400assessour3
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500assessour3
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1914assessor3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin assideo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin assessor
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English assessor
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1914, Ernest Bramah: “On that day Karsfeld, the Princess Street jeweller, y'know,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, Latin assideo‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedéh₁yetiWiktionary, Latin assideoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sedēōWiktionary, Latin assideo‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeōWiktionary, Latin assideo‘sit’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEassideōWiktionary, Latin assessor‘to sit near’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEassessorWiktionary, English assessor‘assistant judge’perfect passive participle of assideō
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400assessourWiktionary, English assessor
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500assessourWiktionary, English assessor
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1914assessorWiktionary, English assessor. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1914, Ernest Bramah: “On that day Karsfeld, the Princess Street jeweller, y'know,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

set, sit, sitting, method, sell, chair, seat, settle, niche, nest, saddle, exodus, subsidy, possess, nye, cathode, anode, prasad, setter, soot, beset, sate, chaise, ersatz, salo, besiege, nidal, polyhedron, nias, 81 more

through Proto-Italic *sedēō ‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’

possession, obsession, presidente, 24 more

through Latin sedeō ‘sit’

president, size, resident, session, siege, reside, residual, residue, sedan, insidious, sediment, sedentary, dissident, sedative, possessive, sedate, presidio, obsess, presidium, seance, sessile, 26 more

through Latin assideō ‘to sit near’

sewer, assize, 4 more

Today it means

noun One who assesses a property for tax or insurance evaluation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “assessor”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin assideo, Latin assessor. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sed- / assessor

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