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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

3 entries under this word

Tax

Tăx, n.

noun

n. [Fr. taxe, Pr. & Pg. taxa, Sp. tasa, It. tassa, L. Lat. taxu, for Lat. taxatio, from taxare, to value, estimate.]

Sense 1. A charge, especially a pecuniary burden which is imposed by authority; as, (a.) A levy of any kind made upon property for the support of a government.

A farmer of taxes is, of all creditors, proverbially the most rapacious. Macaulay.

(b.) Especially, the sum laid upon a specific thing, as upon polls, lands, houses, income, &c.; as, a land tax, a window tax, a tax on carriages, and the like. Taxes are annual or perpetual. (c.) A sum imposed or levied upon the members of a society, to defray its expenses.

Sense 2. A task exacted from one who is under control; a contribution or service, the rendering of which is imposed upon a subject.

Sense 3. A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; as, a heavy tax on time or health.

Sense 4. Charge; censure. Beau. & Fl.

Sense 5. A lesson to be learned; a task. [Obs.] Johnson.

Synonyms—Impost; tribute; contribution; duty; toll; rate; assessment; exaction; custom; demand.

Tăx, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. TAXED (tăkst); p. pr. & vb. n. TAXING.] [Fr. taxer, Pr. taxar, Sp. tasar, Pg. taixar, It. tassare, tacciare, Lat. taxare, to touch sharply, to censure. See supra.]

Sense 1. To subject to pay a tax or taxes; to impose or assess upon; to lay a burden upon; especially, to exact money from for the support of government.

We are more heavily taxed by our idleness, pride, and folly than we are taxed by government. Franklin.

Sense 2. To assess, fix, or determine judicially, as the amount of cost on actions in court; as, the court taxes bills of cost.

Sense 3. To charge; to censure; to accuse;—usually followed by with, rarely by of; as, to tax a man with pride.

Men’s virtues I have commended as freely as I have taxed their crimes. Dryden.

Tăx'is, n.

noun

n. [Gr. τάξις, a division or arrangement, from τάσσειν, to arrange.]

  1. (Arch.) That disposition which assigns to every part of a building its just dimensions. Gwill.
  2. (Surg.) A methodical pressure of the hand on a hernial tumor, for the purpose of reducing it. Dunglison.