Measure, as ex-cess, excess-ive Out of all cess means excessively, i e ex (out of all) cess “Poor jade, is wrung in the withers out of all cess ”- Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV , ii 1 Cess A tax, contracted from assessment (“sess”); as a “church-cess ” In Ireland the word is used sometimes as a contraction of success, meaning luck, as “bad cess to you!”