English word origin

Etymology of cess

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

verb

To levy a cess.

noun

An assessed tax, duty, or levy; billeting. · Usually preceded by good or (more commonly) bad: luck or success. · Bound; measure.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentioncísga · tax, tribute, cess, rent
Derivation mentioncensusla

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    },
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    ],
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      "success",
      "success#English"
    ],
    [
      "speculate",
      "speculate"
    ],
    [
      "assessment",
      "assessment"
    ],
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      "exaction",
      "exaction"
    ],
    [
      "cessen",
      "cessen#Middle_English"
    ]
  ],
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        "To levy a cess."
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

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. · A bog, in particular a peat bog. · A piece of peat, or a turf, particularly when dried for use as fuel.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Possibly from an archaic dialect word meaning “bog”. According to the OED, from earlier suspiral (“water pipe, setting tank”).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗

verb

To cease; to neglect.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle French cesser. See cease.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentioncesserfrm

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for cess →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-Y2Vzcw