poll tax

noun

"poll-tax" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“poll tax” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A tax determined as a uniform, fixed amount per individual.

Corpus desk

Index EN-poll-tax · poll tax · English

poll tax · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for poll tax
PropertyValue
Headwordpoll tax
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “poll tax” in English

poll taxsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

poll tax is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for poll tax in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From sense poll (“head”) for “uniform tax per individual”; from sense poll (“voting place”) for “tax required to vote”. The correct English form is poll tax, spelled P-O-L-L- -T-A-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    A tax determined as a uniform, fixed amount per individual.
  2. 2
    A tax that must be paid in order to vote.

Etymology

From sense poll (“head”) for “uniform tax per individual”; from sense poll (“voting place”) for “tax required to vote”.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "poll tax"?
"poll tax" is spelled P-O-L-L- -T-A-X.
What does "poll tax" mean?
As a noun, "poll tax" means: A tax determined as a uniform, fixed amount per individual.
What is the origin of the word "poll tax"?
From sense poll (“head”) for “uniform tax per individual”; from sense poll (“voting place”) for “tax required to vote”. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list