cess
/sɛs/noun, verb
cess is spelled C-E-S-S: 4 letters. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cess means “An assessed tax, duty, or levy; billeting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cess is cesses.
How many letters and syllables are in cess?
| Letters | 4: C-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 64,400th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cess?
Cess appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cess?
- /sɛs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cess.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cess
- cesses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cessing participle, present
- cessed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cess mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
IndiaIrelandUKAn assessed tax, duty, or levy; billeting.
- 2
IrelandUKinformalUsually preceded by good or (more commonly) bad: luck or success.
- 3
obsoleteBound; measure.
- 4
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.
- 5
obsoleteA bog, in particular a peat bog.
- 6
obsoleteA piece of peat, or a turf, particularly when dried for use as fuel.
verb
- 1
IrelandUKTo levy a cess.
- 2
obsoleteTo cease; to neglect.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does cess come 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).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).