Tax (?), n. [F. taxe, fr. taxer to tax, L. taxare to touch, sharply, to feel, handle, to censure, value, estimate, fr. tangere, tactum, to touch. See Tangent, and cf. Task, Taste.] 1. A charge, especially a pecuniary burden which is imposed by authority. Specifically: --
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(a) A charge or burden laid upon persons or property for the support of a government.
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A farmer of taxes is, of all creditors, proverbially the most rapacious. Macaulay.
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(b) Especially, the sum laid upon specific things, as upon polls, lands, houses, income, etc.; as, a land tax; a window tax; a tax on carriages, and the like. Taxes are annual or perpetual, direct or indirect, etc.
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(c) A sum imposed or levied upon the members of a society to defray its expenses.
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2. A task exacted from one who is under control; a contribution or service, the rendering of which is imposed upon a subject.
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3. A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; as, a heavy tax on time or health.
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4. Charge; censure. [Obs.] Clarendon.
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5. A lesson to be learned; a task. [Obs.] Johnson.
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Tax cart, a spring cart subject to a low tax. [Eng.]
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Syn. -- Impost; tribute; contribution; duty; toll; rate; assessment; exaction; custom; demand.
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