tasca
Forms
tasca f (genitive tascae); first declension[1] Also spelled tasqua, tascha, tascia and tachia.[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin taxō (“to assess”), according to Niermeyer, who compares French tâche.[1] Etymonline explains the form as a metathesis of Medieval Latin taxa (“assessment”), itself a back-formation from the verb.[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is a Medieval Latin word,[1][2] frequent, according to Du Cange, in charters of Occitania and Provence for a share of the crop paid to the landlord.[4]
Semantic evolution
In medieval land tenure the tasca was the share of the produce, often an eleventh, that tenants owed the owner for fields newly brought under cultivation.[1][4] It also came to mean work done by the piece, taskwork.[1] The word passed through Old North French tasque into English as task, first a quantity of labour imposed as a duty.[2]
Timeline
- 12th century – Old North French tasque “duty, tax” is recorded.[2]
- early 14th century – English borrows it as task, a quantity of labour imposed as a duty.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- (Medieval Latin) A share of the crop owed by a tenant to the landlord for newly cleared land; a due in kind.[1][4]
- Piecework, task work.[1]
Related words
Usage notes
Du Cange has a separate tasca “pouch, small bag”, which Italian writers used and which he and earlier etymologists traced to Germanic, German Tasche.[4][3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre