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ex·cise¹

(ĕksīz′)

1. An internal tax imposed on the production, sale, or consumption of a commodity or the use of a service within a country: excises on tobacco, liquor, and long-distance telephone calls.

2. A licensing charge or a fee levied for certain privileges.

tr.v. ex·cised, ex·cis·ing, ex·cis·es

To levy an excise on.

[Middle Dutch excijs, alteration (influenced by Latin excīsus, past participle of excīdere, to cut out) of accijs, tax, probably from Old French acceis, partly from Vulgar Latin *accēnsum (Latin ad-, ad- + Latin cēnsus, tax; see CENSUS) and partly from Old French assise, legislative ordinance; see ASSIZE.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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