Definition of "census" []

• An official, usually periodic enumeration of a population, often including the collection of related demographic information. (noun)
• In ancient Rome, a count of the citizens and an evaluation of their property for taxation purposes. (noun)
• To include in a census; conduct a census of: "Every plant one centimeter in diameter or larger is censused every five years” ( John P. Wiley, Jr.) (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A search of the 1870 census -- the first post-Emancipation census­ quickly uncovered twenty-three-year-old Prince Puryear with a tantalizing clue."
• "In modern usage the term census denotes the periodic numbering of the people, without valuation of property."
• "The legality of such documents is under question in the Congress, as their party's lawyers exploit the finer points of how any old shyster is allowed to use the word census."