1. A contribution for the support of a government required of persons, groups, or businesses within the domain of that government.
2. A fee or dues levied on the members of an organization to meet its expenses.
3. A burdensome or excessive demand; a strain.

1. To place a tax on (income, property, or goods).
2. To exact a tax from.
3. Law. To assess (court costs, for example).
4. To make difficult or excessive demands upon: a boss who taxed everyone's patience.
5. To make a charge against; accuse: He was taxed with failure to appear on the day appointed.

[Middle English, from taxen, to tax, from Old French taxer, from Medieval Latin taxāre, from Latin, to touch, reproach, reckon, frequentative of tangere, to touch.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.