Etymograph

English

census

Census comes from Latin cēnsus ‘census, a registering of the populace and…’, and goes back to cēnseō ‘to give an opinion’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēnseō‘to give an opinion’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēnsus‘census, a registering of the populace and their property’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1851census

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēnseō‘to give an opinion’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēnsus‘census, a registering of the populace and their property’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1851census

Earliest quotation: 1851, Herman Melville, The Whale: “In what census of living creatures, the dead of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- ‘to announce’

charm, cosmic, cosmetic, cosmos, cosmetology, 13 more

through Latin cēnseō ‘to give an opinion’

censor, 5 more

through Latin cēnsus ‘census, a registering of the populace and…’

cess, 2 more

Today it means

noun An official count or enumeration of members of a population (not necessarily human), usually residents or citizens in a particular region, often done at regular intervals.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin cēnseō / census

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