cess

/sɛs/

cess noun: an assessed tax, duty, or levy; billeting.

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Noun (1)

cess (plural cesses)

(India, Ireland, UK) An assessed tax, duty, or levy; billeting.
- EUDOX[US] But what is that which you call Cess? it is a Word sure unused amongst us here; therefore (I pray you) expound the same. IREN[EUS] Cess is none other than that which you yourself called Imposition, but is in a kind unacquainted perhaps unto you; for there are Cesses of sundry sorts: one...1595-1596, Edmund Spenser, A View of the State of Ireland as it was in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth
- ‘For what cess or tallage comes these bandogs to Fitz Peascod Castle?’1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 93
(Ireland, UK, informal) Usually preceded by good or (more commonly) bad: luck or success.
- "Bad cess may attend you, where are you scampering to, you rambunctious"—but she could go no farther; the tears burst from her, and she gave way, without farther resistance, to an explosion of grief.1852 November, O’Hara Family, “Clough Fionn; or, The Stone of Destiny”, in The Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume XL, number CCXXXIX, Dublin: James McGlashan, […]...
- Midland has had good cess with using minute commercials eight television stations, cited as one example of modernizing its advertising.1962, News for Farmer Cooperatives, Information Office, Farm Credit Administration
(obsolete) Bound; measure.
- The poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Verb (1)

cess (third-person singular simple present cesses, present participle cessing, simple past and past participle cessed)

(Ireland, UK) To levy a cess.
- ...according to the quantity thereof, we may cess the said rent and allowance issuing thereout.1596, Edmund Spenser, A View of the Present State of Irelande

Noun (2)

cess (plural cesses)

The area along either side of a railroad track which is kept at a lower level than the sleeper bottom, in order to provide drainage.
- In April 1923, he was working with a gang of five others in Glasgow on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). They were told to walk in the cess. But as it wasn't clear, they walked on the sleepers, each carrying a 70lb lifting screw on his shoulder. McGuinness was struck by a train and...2022 August 10, Dr Mike Esbester, “New understandings from old incidents”, in RAIL, number 963, page 58
(dialectal, obsolete) A bog, in particular a peat bog.
(dialectal, obsolete) A piece of peat, or a turf, particularly when dried for use as fuel.

Verb (2)

cess (third-person singular simple present cesses, present participle cessing, simple past and past participle cessed)

(obsolete) To cease; to neglect.
- And therefore, if there be lord, mesne, and tenant, and the tenant doth cess, and the mesne takes a wife and dies, his wife shall not have dower of the tenancy...1827, John Perkins, A Profitable Book, Treating of the Laws of England

cess meaning in Tamil and Kannada

cess in Tamil

உள்ளாட்சி அமைப்பு வரி, ஊர் வரி, மேல்வரி, வீத வரி, வீதவரி, துணைத் தீர்வை

Examples of cess in a sentence

EUDOX[US] But what is that which you call Cess? it is a Word sure unused amongst us here; therefore (I pray you) expound the same.1595-1596, Edmund Spenser, A View of the State of Ireland as it was in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth:
Entry-level and mid-segment cars priced up to ₹14 lakh will see up to a 13% reduction in GST and cess, making them more attractive to a price-sensitive customer base.2025 September 5, Jagriti Chandra, “Cars get cheaper, festive sales likely to hit top gear. Sub-4 metre cars with engines below 1,200 cc...
It is good cess to feel the warmth and sincerity of this couple who fill the role of the Queen's representative in Canada.1965, Canada Month:

Forms of cess

Noun
plural	cesses
Verb
third-person singular present	cesses
present participle	cessing
past participle	cessed
past	cessed

Origin of cess

For the first meaning below, the writings of Edmund Spenser, published 1633, point to a borrowing from Irish cís (“tax, tribute, cess, rent”), likely from Latin census. Other senses: Uncertain. Occurs in print at least as early as 1831, when Samuel Lover used the expression as one already long-established. He unambiguously stated the derivation of cess in the malediction bad cess to be an abbreviation of success. The OED speculated that it either was from success or from assessment meaning a military or governmental exaction. The verb is attested in Middle English (cessen).

Possibly from an archaic dialect word meaning “bog”. According to the OED, from earlier suspiral (“water pipe, setting tank”).

From Middle French cesser. See cease.

Words formed from cess

Phrases with cess

Words that rhyme with cess

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cess

What does cess mean?: Cess means an assessed tax, duty, or levy; billeting.
What is cess in Tamil?: Cess in Tamil is உள்ளாட்சி அமைப்பு வரி, ஊர் வரி, மேல்வரி. See Cess meaning in Tamil.
How do you use cess in a sentence?: EUDOX[US] But what is that which you call Cess? it is a Word sure unused amongst us here; therefore (I pray you) expound the same.
What part of speech is cess?: Cess can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce cess?: Cess is pronounced /sɛs/.
What is the plural of cess?: The plural of cess is cesses.

Words near cess in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: cess (page history and authors); cess (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cess (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cess.wav.

Cite this entry: “cess.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cess. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.