Cense

//sɛns// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A census. obsolete

    "[I]n the year 1636, King Charles ſending to the Lord Mayor [of London], to make a ſcrutiny, vvhat number of Roman Catholiques and ſtrangers, there vvere in the City, he took occaſion thereby, to make a Cenſe of all the people; and there vvere of Men, VVomen, and Children, above ſeven hundred thouſand that lived vvithin the Barres of his juriſdiction alone; […]"

  2. 2
    A public rate or tax. obsolete

    "as moneys a sum in name of a cense so returned"

  3. 3
    condition; rank obsolete

    "if you write to a man, whose estate and cense as senses, you are familiar with, you may the bolder (to let a taske to his braine) venter on a knot"

Verb
  1. 1
    To perfume with incense.

    "The Salii sing and 'cense his altars round."

  2. 2
    perfume especially with a censer wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
embalmfumigateincenseperfumescentthurify

Example

More examples

"The Salii sing and 'cense his altars round."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Backformation from incense

Etymology 2

Old French cense, French cens, Latin census.

More for "cense"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.