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

Other Word Forms

• taxless adjective
• taxer noun
• taxingly adverb
• taxlessly adverb
• taxlessness noun
• antitax adjective
• nontax noun
• nontaxer noun
• protax adjective
• retax verb (used with object)
• self-taxed adjective
• subtaxer noun
• undertaxed adjective
• untax 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

• death and taxes

Example Sentences

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods typically charged as a percentage of a good's value and are paid to the US government by companies bringing in the products.

Read more on BBC

He believes this will help alleviate poverty in the long-run and enable lower taxes, but also help people to plan their own spending more easily with inflation currently fluctuating less.

Read more on BBC

After taxes are taken, can I deposit the funds into my Roth account?

Read more on MarketWatch

GM attributes the slower electric vehicle adoption rate to recent US Government policy changes, including the termination of tax incentives.

Read more on Barron's

General Motors cited slowing EV adoption rates due to changes in U.S. government policy, including reduced consumer tax incentives.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

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