tax

¹

[ taks ]

noun

1. a sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for specific facilities or services, levied upon incomes, property, sales, etc.

   Synonyms: levy, impost, duty

2. a burdensome charge, obligation, duty, or demand.

verb (used with object)

1. (of a government)
   1. to demand a tax from (a person, business, etc.).
   2. to demand a tax in consideration of the possession or occurrence of (income, goods, sales, etc.), usually in proportion to the value of money involved.
2. to lay a burden on; make serious demands on:

   to tax one's resources.

   Synonyms: stretch, tire, strain

3. to take to task; censure; reprove; accuse:

   to tax one with laziness.

4. Informal. to charge:

   What did he tax you for that?

5. Archaic. to estimate or determine the amount or value of.

verb (used without object)

1. to levy taxes.

tax-

²

1. variant of taxo- before a vowel:

   taxeme.

tax

/ tæks /

noun

1. a compulsory financial contribution imposed by a government to raise revenue, levied on the income or property of persons or organizations, on the production costs or sales prices of goods and services, etc
2. a heavy demand on something; strain

   a tax on our resources

verb

1. to levy a tax on (persons, companies, etc, or their incomes, etc)
2. to make heavy demands on; strain

   to tax one's intellect

3. to accuse, charge, or blame

   he was taxed with the crime

4. to determine (the amount legally chargeable or allowable to a party to a legal action), as by examining the solicitor's bill of costs

   to tax costs

5. slang.
   to steal

Derived Forms

• ˈtaxless, adjective
• ˈtaxer, noun

Other Words From

• taxer noun
• taxing·ly adverb
• taxless adjective
• taxless·ly adverb
• taxless·ness noun
• anti·tax adjective
• non·tax noun adjective
• non·taxer noun
• pro·tax adjective
• re·tax verb (used with object)
• self-taxed adjective
• sub·taxer noun
• under·taxed adjective
• un·tax verb (used with object)
• well-taxed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tax¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the verb) Middle English taxen, from Medieval Latin taxāre, from Latin: “to appraise, charge, estimate,” literally, “to touch repeatedly,” from tangere “to touch”; noun derivative of the verb

Word History and Origins

Origin of tax¹

C13: from Old French taxer, from Latin taxāre to appraise, from tangere to touch

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with tax , also see death and taxes .

Example Sentences

Have you tried to access the research that your tax dollars finance, almost all of which is kept behind a paywall?

From The Daily Beast

His life as a man is built around health insurance and tax services.

From The Daily Beast

Cocaine busts, tax cheats, and bribe-taking, born-again Christians: Welcome to the political scandals of 2014.

From The Daily Beast

In response to the screen quota cut, South Korea established a “cinema tax” on the box office.

From The Daily Beast

Tax evasion carries a maximum penalty of five years, and thus it seems likely that Grimm would be covered by the provision.

From The Daily Beast

The law went into operation in England imposing a tax on wearing hair powder.

From Project Gutenberg

In former years, Korea had paid an annual tribute or tax to China, but for some time it had been held back by this king.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Jackson supposed that Parliament had a right to tax America, but he much doubted the expediency of the present act.

From Project Gutenberg

In tax-paying circles it is said that the fashionable thing will be to start now and let the airship overtake you if it can.

From Project Gutenberg

The stamps, in remote districts, would frequently require more in postage to obtain than the value of the tax.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• contribution
• cost
• duty
• expense
• fine
• levy
• price
• rate
• tariff