Today's Word "capitation"
Tolerating diversity of belief and behavior
on
Published in Vocabulary
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.
"After it was noticed that the seats of the school bus seemed to be emptier than they had appeared upon arriving, a capitation was performed, and the count was found to be exactly two children short."
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).