Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Task
Task (tȧsk), n. [OE. taske, OF. tasque, F. tâche, for tasche, LL. tasca, taxa, fr. L. taxare to rate, appraise, estimate. See Tax, n. & v.] 1. Labor or study imposed by another, often in a definite quantity or amount.
Ma task of servile toil. Milton.
Each morning sees some task begin, Each evening sees it close. Longfellow.
2. Business; employment; undertaking; labor.
His mental powers were equal to greater tasks. Atterbury.
To take to task. See under Take.
Syn. — Work; labor; employment; business; toil; drudgery; study; lesson; stint.
Task, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tasked; p. pr. & vb. n. Tasking.] 1. To impose a task upon; to assign a definite amount of business, labor, or duty to.
There task thy maids, and exercise the loom. Dryden.
2. To oppress with severe or excessive burdens; to tax.
3. To charge; to tax, as with a fault.
Too impudent to task me with those errors. Beau. & Fl.