Task and Tax Are the Same Word
A task is a piece of work to be done. It began as an imposed obligation.
A task is a piece of work to be done, usually imposed rather than chosen. *Task* and *tax* descend from the same Medieval Latin word *tasca*, an imposed charge, itself an alteration of *taxa*, from *taxare*, to assess. A task was originally a duty imposed by a lord in place of money — the labour version of a tax. That sense of imposition survives in *taskmaster* and in *to take someone to task*, meaning to call them to account.
- A piece of work. *A difficult task.*
- To burden. *Tasking the system.*
- Tax — the same root. *A tax.*
- Taskmaster. *A hard taskmaster.*
- Latin — *taxare*, to assess. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | task | A task. |
| Plural | tasks | Tasks. |
| Verb | task | Tasked. |
| Compound | taskmaster | A taskmaster. |
| Related | tax | A tax. |
- He completed the task.Work.
- Task and tax are cousins.Etymology.
- Taken to task.Idiom.
The taxare family
- Task — an imposed piece of work
- Tax — an imposed charge
- Taxi — from taximeter, which assesses the fare
- Taxonomy — an ordered assessment, from a different Greek root
- Tasca and taxa were variants of one word
Old French *tasque*, from Medieval Latin *tasca*, an imposed duty, from Latin *taxare*, to assess.
Are task and tax related?
Yes. Both come from Medieval Latin words for an imposed obligation, one in labour and one in money.
What does take someone to task mean?
To call them to account, keeping the older sense of task as a duty imposed by authority.