census

American  

[sen-suhs] / ˈsɛn səs /

noun

• censuses
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• precensus
  noun
• censual
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• censuses
  plural

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- see censor

Explanation

If you live in the U.S., every ten years you'll participate in a census, a process for counting people. The information collected is used to plan for schools, transportation, social services people will need, and also for determining congressional districts. On the census form you’ll be asked how many people live in your house, their ages, and ethnic and racial backgrounds. With this, the government can plan facilities and also track population trends — whether cities are growing or shrinking, what ethnic groups make up our population, and where they live. We get the word and the idea from the Romans, who registered citizens and their property so they could be taxed. The first U.S. census was held in 1790.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

census censuses

Asian people, including many Chinese, make up the largest slice — roughly 59% — of the city’s population of 54,000, according to the latest census.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

He was writing about census rolls and cadastral maps.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

Carolyn Carlson, Data-Clear’s president and founder, said she provided nationwide voting data to the bureau that year as part of a project to try and prevent an undercount of minority voters in the 2030 census.

From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026

Making things even harder is the lack of an up-to-date census in Venezuela.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Even though Miss Ella Pearl, Miss Trotter’s mother, was as colored as my mother, she told the census taker to write ‘Indian.’

From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Between the censuses of 2010 and 2020, the number of Americans reporting that they belonged to more than one race jumped by 276%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025

At 2.6%, it’s a slight gain over the 2.1% recorded in the 1990, 2000 and 2010 U.S. censuses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025

Now experts from genealogy firm Findmypast have pored over censuses and newspaper archives to uncover the story of the workers who left the intriguing time capsule.

From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024

That concern kept detailed caste documentation out of subsequent censuses, including after India gained independence in 1947.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 22, 2024

His Cange census allowed him to begin building files and to create a baseline against which future censuses could measure how well his system was working.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• enumeration
• poll