Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Luck.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A rate or tax; a public- imposition.
  • noun In Scotland, the land-tax; a permanent tax fixed at £47,954 per annum, to be levied out of the land-rent of Scotland forever, subject, however, to a power of redemption.
  • noun Estimation; measure.
  • To impose a tax upon; assess.
  • To cease.
  • To neglect a legal duty.
  • noun Luck: used chiefly in the imprecation bad cess to you (it, them, etc.).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb obsolete To cease; to neglect.
  • noun Obs. or Prof. Eng. & Scot. A rate or tax.
  • noun obsolete Bound; measure.
  • transitive verb To rate; to tax; to assess.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun rail transport 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.
  • noun UK, Ireland An assessed tax.
  • noun UK, Ireland, informal Luck
  • verb UK, Ireland To levy a cess.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Possibly short for success.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly from an archaic dialect word meaning "bog".

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened form of assess, spelled by analogy with census and other Latinate words.

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Examples

  • A cess is a form of octroi tax and has the advantage of the payer not having to pay up at every octroi post like in other cases.

    Times Now 2010

  • A cess is a form of octroi tax and has the advantage of the payer not having to pay up at every octroi post like in other cases.

    Times Now 2010

  • 'Therefore, instead of burdening parents with hefty fee, the government should compensate the private schools by providing financial support out of education cess, which is kept unutilised in the Prathamik Shiksha Kosh (primary education fund) established in

    AndhraCafe.com 2009

  • The Covenanters now became reckless and wild, for again torn asunder by the "cess" controversy (a dispute arose as to whether it was lawful to pay the tax or "cess" raised for an unlawful object, the carrying on of a Government persecuting the true Kirk) they were but

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913

  • The civic body is on a cess recovery drive and has identified owners who have registered their vehicles in Navi Mumbai but failed to pay cess which is mere one per cent of the cost of the vehicle, and four per cent less than what they would have to pay in Mumbai city.

    The Times of India 2010

  • The civic body is on a cess recovery drive and has identified owners who have registered their vehicles in Navi Mumbai but failed to pay cess which is mere one per cent of the cost of the vehicle, and four per cent less than what they would have to pay in Mumbai city.

    The Times of India 2010

  • The civic body is on a cess recovery drive and has identified owners who have registered their vehicles in Navi Mumbai but failed to pay cess which is mere one per cent of the cost of the vehicle, and four per cent less than what they would have to pay in Mumbai city.

    The Times of India 2010

  • The civic body is on a cess recovery drive and has identified owners who have registered their vehicles in Navi Mumbai but failed to pay cess which is mere 1 per cent of the cost of the vehicle, and 4 per cent less than what they would have to pay in Mumbai city.

    The Economic Times 2010

  • The civic body is on a cess recovery drive and has identified owners who have registered their vehicles in Navi Mumbai but failed to pay cess which is mere one per cent of the cost of the vehicle, and four per cent less than what they would have to pay in Mumbai city.

    The Times of India 2010

  • The civic body is on a cess recovery drive and has identified owners who have registered their vehicles in Navi Mumbai but failed to pay cess which is mere 1 per cent of the cost of the vehicle, and 4 per cent less than what they would have to pay in Mumbai city.

    The Economic Times 2010

Comments

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  • Scottish for land tax, Irish for luck.

    Railway jargon:

    The part of the top of the track formation from the toe of the ballast to the edge of the formation; less commonly, the space between an outer rail and the edge of the track-bed or permanent way structure.

    June 18, 2008

  • Sassarese for Jeez.

    July 2, 2008

  • I think I want to learn Sassarese. It reads like it sounds cool. And just saying you know Sassarese sounds infinitely sassier than plain old sassiness.

    July 2, 2008

  • Oh, I forgot: pronounced like English chess. It reminds cesso = toilet (sic!).

    July 2, 2008

  • Sassarese is probably the rudest dialect in Italy. Even declarations of love sound like curses.

    July 2, 2008

  • Now I really want to hear it.

    July 2, 2008

  • Are you sure? These are the keywords for youtube: aspirina sassarese. I recommend "Indovina chi e' la piu' scema".

    I actually do not recommend anything in Sassarese...

    Spencer Tracy's voice here (2:10) is particularly typical.

    July 3, 2008

  • Bluto?

    July 3, 2008