excise

E1X8C3I1S1E1
UK, US/ˈɛkˌsaɪz/UK/əkˈsaɪz/

noun

A tax charged on goods produced within the country (as opposed to customs duties, charged on goods from outside the country).

“Military censors have excised some details from the photographs for security reasons.”

Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

excise1

nounexcise (countable and uncountable, plural excises)

plural excises · alternative excize

  1. countableuncountableA tax charged on goods produced within the country (as opposed to customs duties, charged on goods from outside the country).

    1787, Constitution of the United States of America, Article I, Section 8, The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts […] of the United States;

    2 more examples

    Andrew Houſtoun and Adam Muſhet, being Tackſmen of the Excize, did Imploy Thomas Rue to be their Collector, and gave him a Sallary of 30. pound Sterling for a year.

    1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 547

    1755, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, "excise", A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom Excise is paid.

    Synonyms: excise tax

verbexcise (third-person singular simple present excises, present participle excising, simple past and past participle excised)

present singular third person excises · participle present excising · participle past excised · past excised · alternative excize

  1. To impose an excise tax on something.

excise2

verbexcise (third-person singular simple present excises, present participle excising, simple past and past participle excised)

present singular third person excises · participle present excising · participle past excised · past excised

  1. To cut out; to remove.

    Military censors have excised some details from the photographs for security reasons.

    5 more examples

    [T]hey [warts] may be lifted up with the forceps, and excised with a knife or scissors, and the wound touched with nitrate of silver.

    1846, William Youatt, The Dog

    1901, Andrew Lang, Preface to the second edition of Myth, Ritual, and Religion, In revising the book I […] have excised certain passages which, as the book first appeared, were inconsistent with its main thesis.

    In the opposite direction the allowance of 103 min. for the 83.8 miles from Waterloo to Salisbury, which has remained untouched since the worst period in the war, when it included a Woking stop that long since has been excised, was another timing that left drivers completely nonplussed at times as to how to fill it out.

    1949 July and August, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 257

    Insanity can be cured. Personality disorders are so inextricably entwined with the heart and mind and soul that it is well-nigh impossible to excise them.

    1987, Ann Rule, Small Sacrifices, page 442

    A person is guilty of an offence if he excises, infibulates or otherwise mutilates the whole or any part of a girl’s labia majora, labia minora or clitoris.

    2003, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Section 1(1)”, in Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, →ISBN, page 14

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA tax charged on goods produced within the country (as opposed to customs duties, charged on goods from outside the country).

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nouna tax that is measured by the amount of business done (not on property or income from real estate)

Similar

verbremove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

excise · noun, verb

  1. Latinad
  2. Vulgar Latin*accensum
  3. Old Frenchacceis“tax, assessment”
  4. Middle Dutchexcijs
  5. Englishexcise

From Middle Dutch excijs, altered under the influence of Latin excisus (“cut out, removed”), from earlier accijs (“tax”), from Old French acceis (“tax, assessment”) (whence modern French accise), from Vulgar Latin *accensum, ultimately from Latin ad + census (“tax, census”).

Full word history & related roots →

excise · verb

  1. Latinexcisus
  2. Frenchexciser
  3. Englishexcise

From French exciser, from Latin excisus, past participle of excīdō (“cut out”), from ex (“out of, from”) + caedō (“cut”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian изрязвам
  • изрязвам (izrjazvam)to cut out, to remove
Czech vyříznout, (vy)preparovat
  • vyříznoutto cut out, to remove
  • (vy)preparovatto cut out, to remove
Danish bortskære
  • bortskæreto cut out, to remove
Finnish leikata, poistaa
  • leikatato cut out, to remove
  • poistaato cut out, to remove
German ausschneiden, herausschneiden
  • ausschneidento cut out, to remove
  • herausschneidento cut out, to remove
  • exzidierento cut out, to remove
Greek εκτέμνω
  • εκτέμνω (ektémno)to cut out, to remove
Russian вырезать
  • вырезать (vyrezatʹ)to cut out, to remove
Ukrainian вирі́зувати, виріза́ти
  • вирі́зувати (vyrízuvaty)to cut out, to remove
  • виріза́ти (vyrizáty)to cut out, to remove
  • ви́різати (výrizaty)to cut out, to remove

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with excise

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

excise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/excise

MLA

“excise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/excise. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “excise,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/excise.

Source: excise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.