excise

¹

[ek-sahyz, -sahys, ek-sahyz, ik-sahyz]

noun

1. an internal tax or duty on certain commodities, as liquor or tobacco, levied on their manufacture, sale, or consumption within the country.

2. a tax levied for a license to carry on certain employments, pursue certain sports, etc.

3. British.,  the branch of the civil service that collects excise taxes.

verb (used with object)

excised, excising 

1. to impose an excise on.

excise

²

[ik-sahyz]

verb (used with object)

excised, excising 

1. to expunge, as a passage or sentence, from a text.

2. to cut out or off, as a tumor.

excise

¹

noun

1. Also called: excise tax. a tax on goods, such as spirits, produced for the home market

2. a tax paid for a licence to carry out various trades, sports, etc

3. that section of the government service responsible for the collection of excise, now part of HMRC

excise

²

/ ɪkˈsaɪz, ɪkˈsɪʒən /

verb

1. to delete (a passage, sentence, etc); expunge

2. to remove (an organ, structure, or part) surgically

Other Word Forms

• excisable adjective
• excision noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of excise¹

1485–95; apparently < Middle Dutch excijs, variant of accijs < Medieval Latin accīsa tax, literally, a cut, noun use of feminine past participle of Latin accīdere to cut into, equivalent to ac- ac- + cīd-, variant stem of caedere to cut + -ta feminine past participle suffix, with dt > s

Origin of excise²

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin excīsus “cut out, hewn down,” past participle of excīdere “to excide ”

Word History and Origins

Origin of excise¹

C15: probably from Middle Dutch excijs, probably from Old French assise a sitting, assessment, from Latin assidēre to sit beside, assist in judging, from sedēre to sit

Origin of excise²

C16: from Latin excīdere to cut down; see _excide

Example Sentences

"On top of that, captains will be having to deal with customs and excise and paperwork around the cargo and immigration."

From BBC

In 2022, when the cannabis industry agreed to increase the excise tax, quarterly cannabis sales were at their peak.

From Los Angeles Times

Congress could increase the excise tax on vaccines, she said, or pass a law limiting what’s on the injury table.

From Salon

Experts say that, regardless of the excise tax reprieve and the included grandfather provisions, the clean energy industry will be badly hurt and consumers’ energy prices could rise by eight to 10 percent.

From Salon

"Legal tobacco products in the UK are subject to some of the highest excise taxes in the world," he says.

From BBC

Related Words

• black out 
• cross out 
• cut out 
• edit 
• eradicate 
• expunge 
• exterminate 
• stamp out