What does cense mean?
Cense is a formal English verb meaning to perfume or ritually purify a person, place, or object by burning incense around it. It appears almost exclusively in religious and liturgical contexts: priests cense altars, icons, relics, and congregations during services such as the Mass or Orthodox liturgy, typically using a censer swung on chains so that the fragrant smoke drifts over what is being honoured. The act carries connotations of sanctity, reverence, and purification, since incense has symbolised prayer rising heavenward in many traditions for millennia. Though grammatically ordinary, the word is rare outside ecclesiastical writing, where 'incense' is more commonly used as the verb instead. Knowing cense is useful for reading descriptions of worship, medieval ritual, and literature that evokes the sights and smells of sacred ceremony.
verbTo perfume or ritually purify by burning incense; to fill the air around something with fragrant smoke.
- To perfume or purify by burning incense, especially in a religious ceremony.
"The priest censed the altar before the congregation was admitted."
"The deacon censed the altar in slow, deliberate arcs."
"On the feast day the entire church was censed with frankincense."
Every time a priest swings a thurible of smoking frankincense across an altar, the word 'cense' is quietly doing its ancient work.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cense
Cense derives ultimately from the Latin verb incendere, meaning 'to set on fire', through the notion of burning fragrant material. It came into English via Old French encenser in the late Middle Ages, alongside related words such as incense and incendiary, which share the same Latin fire-root. The word has retained its ceremonial, churchly flavour throughout its history in English.
Related word forms
How cense is actually used
A formal, literary word found almost exclusively in religious, liturgical, or historical contexts. In everyday speech, speakers nearly always use 'incense' as a verb instead.
Easily confused with cense
Incense is the noun for the aromatic substance itself (and a verb meaning to enrage), while cense is the verb meaning to perfume or purify with that substance.
A census is an official count of a population; it shares only a superficial resemblance in sound with the verb cense.