Tax Lawyer's Blog

It’s a slow news day so I thought I’d take a little time to find out more about the word we’ve all learned to love: Tax.

The word “tax” has been part of the English language since the 14th century. It derives from the Latin words taxare, meaning “to censure, to assess,” and tangere, meaning “to touch.” 

From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary here’s the etymology of the word, its definitions and a list of synonyms: 

Main Entry: ¹tax

Pronunciation: \ˈtaks\

Function: transitive verb

Etymology: Middle English, to estimate, assess, tax, from Anglo-French taxer, from Medieval Latin taxare, from Latin, to feel, estimate, censure, frequentative of tangere, to touch

Date: 14th century

1. to assess or determine judicially the amount of (costs in a court action)
2. to levy a tax on
3. obsolete : to enter (a name) in a list
4. charge, accuse; also : censure
5. to make onerous and rigorous demands on

And check out this “happy” list of synonyms from the Bing online dictionary:

• stretch
• overload
• challenge
• ask too much of
• strain
• drain
• exhaust
• charge
• assess
• hit
• burden
• cream off
• accuse
• reproach
• blame
• confront

Finally, here are a couple of interesting early usages of the word from my man, Willie Shakes:

The commons hath he pill’d with grievous taxes,
And quite lost their hearts:

… upon these taxations,
The clothiers all, not able to maintain
The many to them longing, have put off
The spinsters, carders, fullers, weavers, who,
Unfit for other life, compell’d by hunger
And lack of other means, in desperate manner
Daring the event to the teeth, are all in uproar,
And danger serves among them!

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