Valuation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌvæ.ljuːˈeɪ.ʃən/

Definitions

1. The act of assessing the financial worth of a property or asset
2. The process of determining the monetary value of an asset or property
3. An evaluation carried out to estimate how much something is worth financially

Etymology: Valuation is a noun built from the verb "value" plus the suffix "-ation," which turns an action into its result. The verb itself came into English from Middle French "valuer," a word that meant to assess the worth of something, and the French verb grew out of Old French "valoir," meaning to be worth or to have value. Old French "valoir" descends from Latin "valere," which carried the sense of being strong, healthy, or effective, so the notion of worth is at the heart of the family. The noun is simply the act or result of putting a price or worth on something, so an appraiser's written figure for a house is a valuation. Because "valuer" entered English in the same period as its noun form, the two words have travelled together ever since, and the noun has kept the plain, practical sense of a judgment about worth.

Synonyms: assessment, evaluation, appraisal, estimation, rating

Antonyms: devaluation, underestimation, disregard, neglect, diminution