census English · revision 6918

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1613|origins=la censeo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsɛnsəs/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|census|t=registration of citizens and their property]], originally the past participle of [[m|la|censeo|alt=cēnsēre|t=to assess, tax]] (see [[censor]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A poll tax: 1613;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) the registration of citizens and their property in ancient Rome, 1634.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates it to the 1610s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Rome the purpose was the assessment of property for taxation, so Latin census also meant one's wealth.^(Etymonline) The modern sense, an official count of the population with details, is first recorded in 1769, in Goldsmith,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and as a practice begins in the US (1790) and revolutionary France (1791).^(Etymonline) The tax sense lasted to the mid-19th century.^(SOED 2002) The verb, to take a census of, is from 1881.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1613 – a poll tax.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1634 – the Roman census.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1769 – an official count of population.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1881 – the verb.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An official count of a country's [[population]], with details such as age and occupation.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A count of a particular group, such as birds in an area.^(AHD)

+ # ''(history)'' The registration of citizens and their property in ancient Rome.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[precensus]]

+ * [[census tract]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[censor]]

+ * [[censure]]

+ * [[cense]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}