Where does “tax” come from?

tax (Middle Low German) comes from Old French taxe, from Latin taxa, from Latin taxāre, from Latin Taxus, from Ancient Greek εἶδος, from Spanish -scopio, from Latin -scopium, from Ancient Greek σκοπέω — to see, to look, to observe.

Ancestry of “tax”, step by step

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Old French	taxe	—
2	Latin	taxa	second-person singular present active imperative...
3	Latin	taxāre	—
4	Latin	Taxus	yew
5	Ancient Greek	εἶδος	That which is seen: form, image, shape;...
6	Spanish	-scopio	-scope
7	Latin	-scopium	—
8	Ancient Greek	σκοπέω	I look, look at, behold; I examine, inspect; 413...
9	Ancient Greek	σκοπός	watcher, lookout; protector, guardian; spy, scout
10	Ancient Greek	σκέπτομαι	I look at, examine; I examine, consider, think
11	Proto-Hellenic	sképťomai	to look at
12	Proto-Indo-European	spéḱyeti	to be looking at, to keep looking at
13	Proto-Indo-European	speḱ-	to see, to look, to observe

Words derived from “tax”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- →