cess

A shopkeeper pays the cess to the tax collector.

Definition

1. Noun (historical, chiefly British):
   • Tax or levy: "cess" refers to a tax or assessment, especially a local or land tax in Scotland, Ireland, and some parts of England.
   • Rate or charge: A compulsory payment imposed by a government or authority for specific purposes, such as road maintenance or public works.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The landowner was required to pay cess on his property each year. (A tax on land.)
  • The village council levied a cess for the repair of the bridge. (A local tax for a specific project.)

Advanced Usage

• "bad cess to you!" (Irish expression): A curse or wish for misfortune upon someone.
  • Bad cess to you for stealing my sheep! (May harm come to you for your wrongdoing.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cess is also spelled sess (archaic variant).
• Cess-payer (n): a person who pays cess.
• Cess-collector (n): an official who collects cess.

Synonyms

• Tax: a compulsory contribution to state revenue.
• Levy: an amount of money collected by a government.
• Assessment: an official valuation of property for taxation.
• Impost: a tax or duty.

Related Idioms

• "Cess and session": An old Scottish legal term referring to the collection of taxes and the sitting of a court.
  • The court was in session to handle disputes over cess and session. (Tax and court proceedings.)

Historical Context

• In British India, "cess" was used for various local taxes, such as the road cess or education cess, which were surcharges on land revenue for specific public services.

Phrasal Verbs (none)

• "Cess" is not commonly used as a verb in modern English; its usage is almost exclusively nominal and historical.