estimar

Estimar is a verb used in Spanish and Portuguese to convey several closely related ideas: to determine or judge the value, size, amount, or cost of something; to form an approximate judgment or calculation; and to value or regard someone or something with esteem. In everyday language, it can refer to rough calculations, as in estimating the time or price, or to forming an emotional or moral assessment of a person or idea.

The term derives from Latin aestimare, meaning to value, assess, or appraise. In Romance languages, the sense of assigning value broadened to include both numerical estimation and the act of valuing a person or object morally or emotionally. Cognates appear in many languages, such as estimer in French, stimare in Italian, and estimar in Spanish and Portuguese, often sharing parallel meanings.

In addition to its general sense, est imar has a precise technical use in mathematics and statistics. To estimate means to infer an unknown parameter from observed data, and a corresponding estimador (in Spanish) or estimador (in Portuguese) is a function or rule that provides such an estimate. The noun estimación or estima denotes the result of this process.

Common derivatives include estimado (estimated or dear, depending on context), estimación, and estimador, as well as estimo or eu estimo as first-person forms in Portuguese and Spanish, respectively. Estimar is also used colloquially to express esteem or affection, as in “lo estimo mucho” (I value him greatly).

See also related terms: estimation, estimate, esteem, este o estimo in cognate forms across Romance languages.