Octrois

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A form of tax or duty imposed on goods entering a city or region
2. An official fee charged by local authorities for the privilege of importing merchandise
3. A charge levied on imports meant to regulate trade and collect revenue at municipal borders

Etymology: "Octrois" is the plural of "octroi", a word that entered English from French and once named a tax collected at the gates of French towns. The English noun traces back to Late Latin "auctorizare", meaning to authorize, which passed into Old French as "otroier", meaning to grant or permit. The French name for the levy followed that sense: a tax the town was allowed, or granted, the right to collect on goods entering its walls. The sense of granting is the key to the whole family of meanings. Something granted by a superior authority was an "octroi", and a town's right to levy duties on incoming goods was exactly such a grant. Over time the French form shifted from "otroy" to "octroy", an alteration that brought it closer to its Latin ancestor, and the modern French spelling settled from there.

Synonyms: tax, duty