Definitions of Census
(noun) An official count of a population typically taken at regular intervals.
Examples of Census
- Australian census, taken every five years and termed a quinquennial census.
- United States census, taken every ten years and termed a decennial census.
Census Pronunciation
Syllabification: cen·sus
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /sEn-suhs/
- British English – /sEn-suhs/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈsɛnsəs/
- British English – /ˈsɛnsəs/
Usage Notes
- Plural: censuses
- An individual replying to a census is a respondent and often the head of household.
- Informally called: nose count
Additional Information
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).
Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.
Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Census
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “census.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 29, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/census/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
census. (2015). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/census/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “census.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 29, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/census/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“census.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 29 Sep. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/census/>.