A loanword from Latin census, this term refers to a per-capita tax imposed by Rome on subject peoples. In the Gospels it becomes the flashpoint of a famous trap question: 'Is it lawful to pay kēnsos to Caesar?' (Matt 22:17; Mark 12:14). The word carries political freight—paying it implied acknowledging Roman sovereignty, which is why the question was so incendiary. Spanish tributo and French impôt both capture the coercive, state-imposed nature of this levy.