This week's theme: words related to death and taxes.

capitation (kap-i-TAY-shuhn) noun

   1. A counting of heads.

   2. A uniform tax assessed by the head; a poll tax.

   3. A fee extracted from each student.

[From Late Latin capitation- (poll tax), from caput (head). Ultimately
from Indo-European root kaput- (head), also the origin of head, captain,
chef, chapter, cadet, cattle, chattel, achieve, biceps, and mischief,
(but not of kaput).]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=capitation

-Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)

  "Later, [the] Supreme Court appointed a committee under Justice Jahagirdar
   to ensure that the private medical colleges charge no undue capitation
   fees."
   HC Gives Reprieve to Medical Students; Afternoon Despatch & Courier
   (Mumbai, India); Mar 7, 2006.

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............................................................................
There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth,
without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a
mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to
prevent its ascendancy. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect
and author (1743-1826)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/capitation.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/capitation.ram

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