excise

¹ American  

[ek-sahyz, -sahys, ek-sahyz, ik-sahyz] / ˈɛk saɪz, -saɪs, ˈɛk saɪz, ɪkˈsaɪz /

noun

1. an internal tax or duty on certain commodities, as liquor or tobacco, levied on their manufacture, sale, or consumption within the country.

2. a tax levied for a license to carry on certain employments, pursue certain sports, etc.

3. British. the branch of the civil service that collects excise taxes.

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verb (used with object)

excised, excising

1. to impose an excise on.

excise ² American  

[ik-sahyz] / ɪkˈsaɪz /

verb (used with object)

excised, excising

1. to expunge, as a passage or sentence, from a text.

2. to cut out or off, as a tumor.

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excise ¹ British  

noun

1. Also called: excise tax.  a tax on goods, such as spirits, produced for the home market

2. a tax paid for a licence to carry out various trades, sports, etc

3. that section of the government service responsible for the collection of excise, now part of HMRC

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excise ² British  

/ ɪkˈsaɪz, ɪkˈsɪʒən /

verb

1. to delete (a passage, sentence, etc); expunge

2. to remove (an organ, structure, or part) surgically

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Other Word Forms

• excisable
  adjective
• excision
  noun

Etymology

Origin of excise¹

1485–95; apparently < Middle Dutch excijs, variant of accijs < Medieval Latin accīsa tax, literally, a cut, noun use of feminine past participle of Latin accīdere to cut into, equivalent to ac- ac- + cīd-, variant stem of caedere to cut + -ta feminine past participle suffix, with dt > s

Origin of excise²

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin excīsus “cut out, hewn down,” past participle of excīdere “to excide ”

Explanation

An excise tax is a special tax levied on specific products sold within a country. To excise something can also mean to get rid of it. Say, wouldn't it be nice if they would excise the excise taxes? An excise tax is simply an extra tax put on various products. Perhaps the most common examples are the taxes levied on tobacco and liquor, often called "sin taxes" because drinking and smoking are considered vices. There is also an excise tax on gasoline. To cover the tax, the seller will usually raise the price of the item. Interestingly, the word excise (ek-SIZE) used as a verb means to remove something by cutting it out. Good luck with excising the excise taxes!

Example Sentences

Courting the female vote, the state’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made the dry law a bedrock of his re-election campaign and signed the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act in 2016.

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2025

Excise tax and transient accommodations tax revenue — both of which are heavily influenced by the number of travelers to the state — have been weak as expected, he said.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2023

Excise a few grandiose mission statements from this eye-opening book, and nothing is lost — and nothing seems to be missing.

From Washington Post • Nov. 1, 2022

Excise taxes levied on manufactured goods at the time of production, brought in more than $38 billion.

From Washington Times • Apr. 14, 2022

As anticipated, a Customs and Excise team on stakeout.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Related Words

• black out
• cross out
• cut out
• edit
• eradicate
• expunge
• exterminate
• stamp out