Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “task” come from?

Task comes from Old Northern French tasque, ultimately denoting work or labor assigned to be done.

task (English): A piece of work done as part of one’s duties; Any...

Definitions

  1. A piece of work done as part of one’s duties; Any...

Ancestry of “task”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Medieval Latintasca—
2Latintaxasecond-person singular present active imperative...
3Latintaxāre—
4LatinTaxusyew
5Ancient GreekεἶδοςThat which is seen: form, image, shape;...
6Spanish-scopio-scope
7Latin-scopium—
8Ancient GreekσκοπέωI look, look at, behold; I examine, inspect; 413...
9Ancient Greekσκοπόςwatcher, lookout; protector, guardian; spy, scout
10Ancient GreekσκέπτομαιI look at, examine; I examine, consider, think
11Proto-Hellenicsképťomaito look at
12Proto-Indo-Europeanspéḱyetito be looking at, to keep looking at
13Proto-Indo-Europeanspeḱ-to see, to look, to observe

Words derived from “task”

  • taskbar
  • tasking
  • taskmaster
  • multitask
  • subtask
  • taskwork
  • overtask
  • multitasker
  • taskpad
  • tasker
  • taskmistress
  • intertask
  • supertask
  • intratask
  • tasklist
  • pretask
  • microtask
  • taskset
  • retask
  • taskless
  • monotask
  • metatask
  • attask
  • taskmastership
Every word from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- →