cess vs fee

cess

noun
  • An assessed tax, duty, or levy. 

  • Usually preceded by good or (more commonly) bad: luck or success. 

  • The area along either side of a railroad track which is kept at a lower level than the sleeper bottom, in order to provide drainage. 

verb
  • To levy a cess. 

fee

noun
  • A right to the use of a superior's land as a stipend for certain services to be performed, typically military service. 

  • An additional monetary payment charged for a service or good that is minor compared to the underlying cost. 

  • Synonym of fief: the land so held. 

  • An inheritable estate in land, whether absolute and without limitation to potential heirs (fee simple) or with limitations to particular kinds of heirs (fee tail). 

  • An inheritable estate in land held of a feudal lord on condition of performance of certain services, typically military service. 

verb
  • To reward for services performed, or to be performed; to recompense; to hire or keep in hire; hence, to bribe. 

How often have the words cess and fee occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )