census

noun cen·sus \ ˈsen(t)-səs \

Updated on: 15 Apr 2018

Definition of census

1 : a count of the population and a property evaluation in early Rome

2 : a usually complete enumeration of a population; specifically : a periodic governmental enumeration of population

According to the latest U.S census, 16% of the population is of Hispanic or Latino origin.

3 : count, tally

a census of deer in a game refuge

—

census

transitive verb

See census defined for English-language learners

See census defined for kids

Examples of census in a Sentence

According to the latest census, the racial makeup of the town has changed dramatically in the last 50 years.
a thorough census of all the grizzly bears living within the national park

Recent Examples of census from the Web

The median income there was $74,921 in 2016, the most recent year for which census data is available.

— katherine peralta, charlotteobserver, "Other parts of Charlotte have plenty of grocery stores. Why not NoDa? | Charlotte Observer," 12 Apr. 2018
Veterans compromise about 10% of the voting age population, according to census data.

— maeve reston, CNN, "Rep. Duncan Hunter's chances of hanging on to his seat may go up in smoke," 11 Apr. 2018
Most recent census data shows 4,534 of Pleasant Grove's 10,110 residents are black.

— anna beahm, AL.com, "Elections in small Alabama city are unfair to black voters, NAACP letter says," 7 Apr. 2018
For its efforts, cars generally remain king: The number of cars owned in the city has gone up at the same rate as the number of people, according to census data crunched by The Seattle Times.

— Scientific American, "To Meet Emissions Goals, Seattle Wants to Charge Drivers," 6 Apr. 2018
Full census data will make the numbers somewhat more precise.

— lyman stone, Vox, "Why it’s perfectly fine to ask about citizenship status on the census," 5 Apr. 2018
Hanabusa was pointing to a trend reflected in census data: People are moving away from Hawaii even as employers here clamor for workers.

— audrey mcavoy and christopher s. rugaber, The Christian Science Monitor, "Hawaii's low unemployment presents unique challenges," 5 Apr. 2018
While census data reflects a per-capita income in Jackson of $39,300, the average for those who identify as Hispanic is only $14,400.

— jake bullinger, Outside Online, "When Skiing Collides with Immigration Politics," 2 Apr. 2018
As of the most recent census data, Northern Liberties (and a section of Fishtown) had the third-highest median income in the city, $78,775 per household, behind only Southwest Center City ($79,821) and Chestnut Hill ($80,127).

— julia terruso, Philly.com, "As wealth rises in Northern Liberties, businesses look for a lift," 30 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'census.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of census

borrowed from Latin cēnsus, from cēnsēre "to give as an opinion, assess, appraise, perform the duties of a censor" + -tus, suffix of verbal action — more at ¹censor

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1634

See Words from the same year

census Synonyms

Synonyms

count, tale, tally;

Related Words

score;

amount, gross, sum, total, whole;

recount;

Other Mathematics and Statistics Terms

abscissa, denominator, divisor, equilateral, exponent, hypotenuse, logarithm, oblique, radii, rhomb

CENSUS Defined for English Language Learners

census

noun

Definition of census for English Language Learners

: the official process of counting the number of people in a country, city, or town and collecting information about them

CENSUS Defined for Kids

census

noun cen·sus \ ˈsen-səs \

Definition of census for Students

: a count of the number of people in a country, city, or town

Law Dictionary

census

noun cen·sus

legal Definition of census

: a usually complete count of a population (as of a state); especially : a periodic governmental count of a population that usually includes social and economic information (as occupations, ages, and incomes)