tâche French · revision 38588

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1176–1181, Chrétien de Troyes, Chevalier de la Charrette|origins=la taxō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /taʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * /tɑʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tâche''' ''f'' (plural tâches)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|tasche]], also ''tasque'' in Picard texts.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) The spelling ''tâche'' is recorded about 1420.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|tasca]], also [[m|la-med|tascha]], a rural due paid as a share of the crop to the owner of newly cleared land (802 in the south of France, 1028 in the north), which gave [[pro|tasca]] (1192).^(TLFi) The Medieval Latin word comes from [[la|taxō|t=to touch; to appraise]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) which the GLLF and Wiktionary trace to [[m|la|tangō|t=to touch]];^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) the Petit Robert thinks it more likely borrowed, in the sense “to appraise”, from [[grc|τάσσω|tr=tássō|t=to arrange, prescribe]].^(Petit Robert 2007) Rey and the GLLF cite the form [[m|la-med|taxa]] “rural due”.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The Grand Robert mentions Guiraud's view that the noun is a back-formation from [[tâcher]].^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ The word is related to [[taxe]], [[taxer]] and [[taux]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Chrétien de Troyes' ''Chevalier de la Charrette'' (1176–1181) as ''tasche'', a set amount of work undertaken for a fixed time and price.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The notion of payment for a given piece of work lived on in ''en tasche'' (14th century) and ''à la tâche'' (1606), of workers paid by the job rather than by the day.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) It fades in the figurative ''prendre à tâche de'' “to make a point of” (1640, Oudin), and, from 1782 (Diderot) the word also means a moral duty, what one is bound to do.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The Norman–Picard form passed into English as [[m|en|task]] in the 15th century.^(Petit Robert 2007) In computing ''tâche'' is a task run by the operating system.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1176–1181 – ''Tasche'' in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 14th century – ''En tasche'', of work paid by the job.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1393 – ''Euvrer en la piece ou en tache'' in the ''Ménagier de Paris''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1606 – ''À la tâche'' in Crespin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1640 – Oudin records ''prendre à tâche de''.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ * 1782 – Diderot uses it for a duty one must fulfil.^(TLFi)

+ * 1866 – Amiel writes ''mourir à la tâche''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|task]]: a set piece of work to be done, often within a given time.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''À la tâche'': paid by the piece of work done, not by the hour (''travailler à la tâche''); ''mourir à la tâche'': to die in harness.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # What one must do; a [[m|en|duty]], mission or role.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(literary)'' ''Prendre à tâche de'': to make a point of, strive to.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(computing)'' A task run by the operating system.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tâcher]]

+ * [[tâcheron]]

+ * [[multitâche]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[taxe]]

+ * [[taxer]]

+ * [[taux]]

+ * [[la|taxō]]

+ * [[en|task]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}