A tax charged on goods produced within the country (as opposed to customs duties, charged on goods from outside the country).
Andrew Houſtoun and Adam Muſhet, being Tackſmen of the Excize, did Imploy Thomas Rue to be their Collector, and gave him a Sallary of 30. pound Sterling for a year.
1755, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, "excise",
A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom Excise is paid.
1787, Constitution of the United States of America, Article I, Section 8,
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts […] of the United States;
verb
To impose an excise tax on something.
verb
To cut out; to remove.
1901, Andrew Lang, Preface to the second edition of Myth, Ritual, and Religion,
In revising the book I […] have excised certain passages which, as the book first appeared, were inconsistent with its main thesis.