cess
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cess¹
- /sɛs/
Rhymes with -ɛs
Where it comes from
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).
noun cesses
- 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 is
- 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.
- Bound; measure. The poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess.
verb cesses · cessing · cessed
- To levy a cess. ...according to the quantity thereof, we may cess the said rent and allowance issuing thereout.
cess²
- /sɛs/
Rhymes with -ɛs
Where it comes from
Possibly from an archaic dialect word meaning “bog”. According to the OED, from earlier suspiral (“water pipe, setting tank”).
noun 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 kil
- A bog, in particular a peat bog.
- A piece of peat, or a turf, particularly when dried for use as fuel.
cess³
- /sɛs/
Rhymes with -ɛs
Where it comes from
From Middle French cesser. See cease.
verb cesses · cessing · cessed
- 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...
Talk about this word "cess." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cess. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. cess. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cess "cess." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cess.Cite this
@misc{cess_2026,
title = {cess},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cess},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
