excise

excise — noun

IPA/ˈeksaɪz/
KK[ˈɛksaɪz]IPA/ˈeksaɪz/

1. a charge that a government collects from businesses on particular products made

1.nounB2
Definition

a charge that a government collects from businesses on particular products made and traded inside the country — commonly applied to items such as alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, and fuel.

Example

The government raised the excise on cigarettes by ten percent last year.

excise on [product]

Revenue from excise taxes helps fund public healthcare and road maintenance.

excise taxes fund public services

Common collocations
  • excise on [alcohol/tobacco/fuel]
  • excise duty
  • excise tax
  • impose an excise
  • pay excise
  • collect excise
  • raise excise
Synonyms
  • tax

    much broader term covering all government charges on income, property, goods, or services

  • duty

    often used interchangeably with excise for alcohol, tobacco, and fuel; but 'duty' also covers customs charges on imports

  • levy

    general term for imposing a charge; describes the action rather than the specific type of tax

  • tariff

    restricted to taxes on imported or exported goods, not domestic products

Grammar Patterns

excise on [product]

Common Mistakes

The excise on imported cars at the port was high.
The tariff on imported cars at the port was high.
'excise' applies to goods produced or sold within the country, not to imported goods crossing a border.

excise — verb

IPA/ɪkˈsaɪz/
KK[ɛksˈaɪs]IPA/ɪkˈsaɪz/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to government charges, but they apply in different situations. 'Tax' is the broadest term, covering any compulsory payment to the state, from income tax to sales tax. 'Excise' specifically means a tax on goods produced, sold, or used inside country borders — always on specific products like alcohol, tobacco, or fuel, never on property or income. 'Duty' overlaps with excise when referring to taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and fuel (often called 'excise duty'), but 'duty' can also refer to tariffs on imports. 'Tariff' is exclusively a tax on goods crossing international borders — whereas excise is domestic. 'Levy' is a general term for imposing any tax or fee; it describes the action ('the government levies a tax') rather than the type of tax itself. For example: 'The government raised excise duties on cigarettes' — here both excise and duty fit. But 'The US imposed tariffs on steel imports' — tariff, not excise, because imports cross borders.

tax ↗duty ↗tariff ↗levy ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Prepositions

Etymology

Middle DutchOld FrenchLatinEnglish

Excise has two distinct origins that happened to arrive at the same spelling in English. The noun meaning 'a tax on goods' (and the related verb sense 'to impose excise') comes from Middle Dutch 'accijs' (a tax), borrowed through Old French 'acceis'. The verb meaning 'to cut out' comes from Latin 'excidere' — 'ex-' (out) + 'caedere' (to cut) — which entered English through French 'exciser'. Modern English merged both forms under the same spelling, making this a true homonym pair — two unrelated words that look and sound identical.