cess

¹ American  

[ses] / sɛs /

noun

1. British. a tax, assessment, or lien.

2. (in Scotland) a land tax.

3. (in Ireland) a military assessment.

4. (in India) an import or sales tax on a commodity.

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verb (used with object)

1. British. to tax; assess.

cess ² American  

[ses] / sɛs /

noun

Irish English Informal.

1. luck (usually used in the expressionbad cess to ).

   Bad cess to them!

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cess ¹ British  

/ sɛs /

noun

1. any of several special taxes, such as a land tax in Scotland

2. 1. the obligation to provide the soldiers and household of the lord deputy with supplies at fixed prices

   2. any military exaction

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verb

1. (tr) to tax or assess for taxation

2. (formerly in Ireland) to impose (soldiers) upon a population, to be supported by them

cess ² British  

/ sɛs /

noun

1. an Irish slang word for luck

   bad cess to you!

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cess ³ British  

/ sɛs /

noun

1. short for cesspool

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Etymology

Origin of cess¹

1400–50; late Middle English; aphetic variant of obsolete assess assessment, noun use of assess (v.)

Origin of cess²

First recorded in 1855–60; perhaps aphetic variant of success

Example Sentences

The comments are where the cess is pooled.

From Washington Post • Mar. 5, 2023

To relieve pressure on cess pits - which were prone to leaking, overflowing, and belching explosive methane - the authorities had instead started encouraging sewage into gullies.

From BBC • Oct. 15, 2017

Here where the Thames basin flattens, the cess has to be pumped forty feet up to give it the gradient to reach Beckton.

From The Guardian • Jul. 30, 2012

During my diver training one police diver told me his team had to search a cess pit.

From BBC • Jun. 10, 2010

Later, it was used in the sense of the imposition itself, in which it has survived in the contracted form of cess.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various