census

American  

[sen-suhs] / ˈsɛn səs /

noun

plural

censuses

1. an official enumeration of the population, with details as to age, sex or gender, occupation, etc.

2. (in ancient Rome) the registration of citizens and their property, for purposes of taxation.

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verb (used with object)

1. to take a census of (a country, city, etc.).

   The entire nation is censused every 10 years.

census British  

/ ˈsɛnsəs /

noun

1. an official periodic count of a population including such information as sex, age, occupation, etc

2. any offical count

   a traffic census

3. (in ancient Rome) a registration of the population and a property evaluation for purposes of taxation

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Other Word Forms

• censual adjective
• precensus noun

Etymology

Origin of census

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin: “a listing and property assessment of citizens,” equivalent to cēns(ēre) “to assess, register (citizens) in a census” + -tus suffix of verb action; for -s- in place of -st- censor

Example Sentences

The associate professor of sociology and faculty director of the UC Merced labor center based his analysis on U.S. census data from those months and published his findings over the summer.

From Los Angeles Times

The analysis showed that women who lived in the same census tract as at least one Superfund site were about 30% more likely to be diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

From Science Daily

A file from the 1960s details the plans for collecting the censuses of population in Northern Ireland in both 1961 and 1966.

From BBC

In the first eight months of 2025, the Los Angeles metropolitan area authorized slightly fewer new housing units than the Austin, Texas, metro, despite having five times the population, according to census data.

From The Wall Street Journal

Its last census, over 15 years ago, recorded 30% urban population.

From BBC

Related Words

• enumeration
• poll