What does excise mean?
Excise carries two distinct meanings that share little beyond their spelling. As a noun, it denotes an internal tax that governments impose on the manufacture, sale, or use of specific goods — most commonly alcohol, tobacco, and fuel — making it a staple term in fiscal policy and public finance. As a verb, to excise is to remove something by cutting it away, whether a surgeon removing diseased tissue or an editor striking a passage from a manuscript. The two senses even sound different: the noun is stressed on its first syllable, the verb on its second. The word derives ultimately from Latin roots relating to cutting out, which explains the surgical sense, while the tax sense entered English through Middle Dutch. Excise is most at home in formal registers — legal, financial, medical — and is worth knowing precisely because both meanings remain firmly in active use today.
A tax charged by a government on the manufacture, sale, or consumption of particular goods produced domestically, especially commodities such as alcohol, tobacco, and petroleum products.
"The chancellor announced an increase in excise duties on beer and spirits."
In British English, 'excise duty' and 'excise' often refer collectively to taxes administered by customs and revenue authorities; American usage favors 'excise tax'.
To remove something entirely by cutting it out, especially tissue during surgery or a passage from a text or record.
"The editors agreed to excise the offending paragraph before publication."
Typically used with a direct object and found mainly in formal, medical, or editorial contexts.
Rarely pluralized outside formal or historical discussions of taxation.
"Colonial resistance centered on the unpopular excises levied on everyday goods."
One word, two very different lives: 'excise' can be the taxman's favorite charge or a surgeon's precise cut.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of excise
The noun 'excise' entered English in the early seventeenth century, borrowed from Middle Dutch 'excys', itself adapted from an earlier word for assessment under the influence of Latin terms beginning with 'ex-'. The verb 'excise' has a separate lineage, coming from Latin 'excidere', meaning to cut out, formed from 'ex-' (out) plus 'caedere' (to cut). That same root gives English several other words involving cutting, including 'incise', 'precise', and 'circumcise'. The shared spelling of the two words led them to merge in form despite their distinct origins.
How excise is actually used
As a noun, 'excise' belongs chiefly to formal, legal, and economic contexts, and in British English 'excise duty' is the standard full form. The verb is more common in medical writing ('excised the lesion') and in formal prose about removing content from texts or records. The two parts of speech differ in pronunciation: the noun stresses the first syllable, while the verb typically stresses the second.
Easily confused with excise
Exercise means physical activity or practice, whereas excise means a tax on goods or the act of cutting something out.