task

▪ I. task, n.
    (tɑːsk, -æ-)
    Also 4–7 taske, 5–7 tasque.
    [a. ONF. tasque (13th c. in Godef.) = OF. tasche, F. tâche; or ad. med.L. tasca (taschia) (c 800 in Du Cange), according to Diez, by metathesis for taxa, f. L. taxāre to rate, estimate, value, in med.L. to impose or assess a tax.]
    I. † 1. A fixed payment to a king, lord, or feudal superior; an impost, tax; tribute. Obs.

[1114–18 Laws Hen. I, c. 78 §5 Persoluantur uel in taschis uel huiusmodi suggerendis, sicut de b[a]st[ar]dis est institutum.] c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 17918 This is the somme that Gregays aske, That thei wole haue vnto her taske: Ten hundrid thousand pound of golde. 14.. in Wars Eng. in France (1864) II. 525 Tasques, taylles, inposicione of the comyns. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 487/1 Taske, or talyage, taliagium, taxa. c 1475 Harl. Contin. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 454 Grete exaccions and taskes. 1530 Palsgr. 279/2 Taske that a prince gadereth, taulx. 1624 Maldon, Essex, Borough Deeds (Bundle 108 lf. 12), xxd. payd the collectors of the taske for twoe fifteenes and tenths. a 1625 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 298 High Collectors of any Taske, Subsedie, or lone. 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. v. 75 By statute 25 Edw. I. c. 5 & 6..it was enacted, that the king should take no aids or tasks but by the common assent of the realm.

    2. a. A piece of work imposed, exacted, or undertaken as a duty or the like; originally, a fixed or specified quantity of labour or work imposed on or exacted from a person; later, the work appointed or assigned to one as a definite duty.

a 1300 Cursor M. 5872 And taron sett he men at ask Of ilk dai to yeild þair task [v.r. taske]. 13.. Ibid. 29000 Has he [Christ] sett vs certain task Quilk ar þai bones for to ask. c 1400 St. Alexius (Laud 622) 675 Nouȝth as a Man of task. 1530 Tindale Exod. v. 14 Wherfore haue ye not fulfilled youre taske in makinge brycke? 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Rom. 8 The Iewes..whiche hauyng..become christian men, & worke no longer now, as it wer by tasque, but vnfainedly & purely put theyr trust in him. 1573–80 Baret Alv. T 79 The Taske, or worke that one is appointed to do. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. 1851 IV. 237 A task we know is a proportion of work, not doing the same thing absolutely every day, but so much. 1699 Burnet 39 Art. xxv. (1700) 283 Prayers gone through as a Task can be of no value. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 111 ¶6 The silk-worm, after having spun her task, lays her eggs and dies. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 13 ¶6 She..appoints them a task of needle-work. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 435 In getting fuel from the woods..one cord is the task for a day. 1892 Westcott Gospel of Life 272 Each age has its own task, and we can dimly see our own.

    b. spec. A portion of study imposed by a teacher; a lesson to be learned or prepared; spec. (Winchester College slang) an essay or composition to be written. Now arch.

1742 Shenstone Schoolmistress 155 Eftsoons the urchins to their tasks repair, Their books of stature small they take in hand. 1760 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 II. 126 These lessons might be given every night as tasks. 1811 Byron Hints fr. Hor. 231 Fines, tutors, tasks, conventions threat in vain. 1900 J. S. Farmer Public School Word-Bk. 201 Task, (subs.) (Winchester), all kinds of composition other than an Essay or Vulgus. 1901 Northern Whig 8 May (E.D.D.), An Ulster lad, when at school, gets his ‘tasks’. 1980 ‘T. Hinde’ Sir Henry & Sons xv. 151 The weekly essay..called a task, is written by every boy in the school.

    c. Psychol. A piece of work or an exercise given to a subject in a psychological test or experiment. Cf. aufgabe.

1913 H. Münsterberg Psychol. & Industrial Efficiency xviii. 237 We know how the consciousness of the task to be performed has an organizing influence on the system of those psychophysical acts which lead to the goal. 1951 G. Humphrey Thinking 99 The energy [for mental operations] may..conceivably originate in..the task or motive. 1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 96 Sixty males received..electric shocks of varying magnitude from a confederate during a 10-trial probability estimation task.

    3. In more general sense: Any piece of work that has to be done; something that one has to do (usually involving labour or difficulty); a matter of difficulty, a ‘piece of work’. Cf. job n.² 4.

1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 145 Alas poore Duke, the taske he vndertakes Is numbring sands, and drinking Oceans drie. 1637 T. Morton New Eng. Canaan (1883) 182 My taske..is to intreat of the naturall indowments of the Country. 1641 Brome Jov. Crew ii. Wks. 1873 III. 384 Alass poor Knave! How hard a tasque it is to alter Custome! 1754 Connoisseur No. 42 ¶7 To rescue our Native Language..is a task worthy those who are accounted Ornaments of our Seats of Learning. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 101 Never had sovereigns been called upon to perform a task more difficult than that which lay before the restored princes of Italy. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. xvii. 525 He had taken upon himself a task beyond the ordinary strength of man.

    II. Phrases.
    † 4. a. at task: (a) at so much for a specified amount or piece of work, by the piece; (b) ? taken to task, blamed (a doubtful sense, the reading being uncertain). b. by task, to task, by the piece. c. under task, under the command of a taskmaster; by compulsion. Obs.

a. 1477–8 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 364 Helyng and poyntyng in dyvers places atte Taske. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. iv. 366 (Fol. 1) Yet vnder pardon You are much more at task [Qo. 1 attaskt] for want of wisedome, Then prai'sd for harmefull mildnesse.

b. 1601–2 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 628 Item for caruing the eight beastes by taske. 1803 Naval Chron. XV. 58 A job note..an actual statement of the work performed by job and task. 1476–7 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 363 Swaryng of timber to carpenters to taske viijd.

c. 1671 Milton Samson 35 To grind in Brazen Fetters under task With this Heav'n-gifted strength.

    5. to take to task: † (a) to undertake as one's task or special piece of work; † (b) to challenge (a person) to a task; † (c) to take (a person or thing) in hand, to deal with; (d) esp. (in current use), to deal with or tackle in the way of fault-finding or censure, to call to account about a matter: cf. task v. 5, tax v. 6.

1546 Accts. Osney & St. Frideswyde's (MS. Wood, D. 2, p. 585), To a laborer pulling downe stone at Osney church, for y⊇ masons y{supt} took y⊇ walle to taske at frideswides. 1570 J. Dee Math. Pref. a iv b, Geographie did principally take the Element of the Earthes description..to taske. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 253 He..would take any common souldier to taske at wrastling, or weapon, or in any other actiuitie..of armes. 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. (1650) 265 Apollos..knew nothing but the Baptisme of John: till Aquila and Priscilla took him to task, and more perfectly expounded to him the way of God. 1682 Wood Life 31 May (O.H.S.) III. 19 George Royse..took his principles to taske and exposed them very smartly. 1740 tr. De Mouhy's Fort. Country-Maid (1741) I. 84 What is the Matter, my pretty Girl?..has any one been taking you to Task? 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1792) I. 81 [He] shut the door, and called him to task. 1822 Examiner 365/1 The Quarterly is taken to task for neglecting its duty. 1890 Doyle Capt. ‘Polestar’, etc. 205 My employer took me severely to task.

    III. 6. attrib. and Comb., as, † (in sense 1) task-book, task-cope, task-gatherer, task-money, task-roll (obs.); (in senses 2 and 3), task assignment, task-book, task-house, task-labour, task-labourer, task-lord, task-officer, task performance, task-reading, task role, task-verse; task-directed, task-like, task-orientated, task-oriented, task-related adjs.; task force orig. U.S., an armed force organized for a special operation under a unified command; hence transf., any group of persons organized for a special task, esp. an investigative committee; task group, a naval task force, or a subdivision of such a force; task-man, an officer who sets a task, a taskmaster; task-note, a memorandum of work done by the piece, a job-note: see quot. 1803 in 4 b; task-system, the system of working by the piece. See also taskmaster, etc.

1964 *Task assignment [see assignment 13].

1624 Maldon, Essex, Borough Deeds (Bundle 108 lf. 8), xs. payd to Samwell Chese for new writing of the *taske booke (in parchment) this yere. 1882 J. Parker Apost. Life I. 17 Some men hardly can open the Bible..because they remember that in early days it was the task-book.

1463 in Bury Wills (Camden) 21 To aquyte the said Seynt Marie preest of the *taske Abbot's cope and alle manner charges generally at ony [time] askyd by ony manner of mene.

1971 J. S. Bruner Beyond Information Given (1974) xvii. 302 The picture of development drawn thus far is much too *task-directed, too playless to be characteristic of the first year of life.

1941 Time 23 June 41/3 A division of Marines and one of infantry..as a potential A.E.F. ‘*task force’—for action overseas. 1942 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLVI. 340 Low speed battleships are useless as a constituent of so-called ‘task’ forces. 1949 Richmond (Va.) Times- Dispatch 1 Mar. 1/1 The work stoppage resulted from an attempt by the city to try out a ‘task force’ system of collections. Under this plan, workers are assigned a certain route to be covered each day. When they complete their route, they can go home, regardless of how long it has taken. 1954 Economist 9 Jan. 97 The task force appointed..to examine the civil service. 1966 [see project n. 5 d]. 1971 Nature 24 Dec. 435/3 A task force set up under the auspices of the National Heart and Lung Institute. 1980 Birds Autumn 13/3 The problem [of bird smuggling] has become so serious in the USA that the Justice Department has been ordered to establish a special task force. Over a period of 12 months, nearly 1,000 birds have been seized by Customs officers. 1982 Times 3 June 8/6 The work of getting the components of the task force to sea has often been swift.

1552 Huloet, *Taske gatherer, exactor.

1943 Daily Tel. 23 Oct. 1/4 Capt. Mackintosh, as the senior commanding officer, commanded a *Task Group, which included one of the latest battleships and American destroyers. 1952 [see kamikaze n. 2]. 1979 Navy News Feb. 2/1 Ships in a Royal Navy task group broke off from their work surveying the coast of Iran last month to ferry British and American dependants away from the troubled country.

1847 Ld. Lindsay Hist. Chr. Art I. Introd. 168 There was my place of prayer, there the *task-house of my most wretched flesh.

1812 Gen. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 161/2 The working of mines, and other *task labour. 1838–9 F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 28 In the part of Georgia where this estate is situated, the custom of task labour is universal.

1897 A. Drucker tr. Ihering's Evol. Aryan 116 The Egyptians knew no mercy for their *task-labourers.

1830 F. A. Kemble Let. in Rec. Girlhood (1878) II. iv. 115 With what *task-like feeling I set about most of my work.

1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. Law 137 They labour hard, eat little, sleeping lesse, No sooner layd, but thus their *Task-Lords presse.

1856 Olmsted Slave States 435 One cord is the task for a day... The *taskman selecting the trees..that he judges will split easiest, one hundred a day.

1593 Jack Straw i. in Hazl. Dodsley V. 379 Thou hast thy *task-money for all that be here.

1803 Naval Chron. XV. 58 Is there any particular form of job or *task note?

1865 J. H. Ingraham Pillar of Fire (1872) 135 Enrolling them under *task-officers.

1953 Jrnl. Abnormal & Soc. Psychol. XLVIII. 401 (heading) Coding noise in a *task-oriented group. 1971 J. Z. Young Introd. Study Man xx. 273 Both social and task-oriented behaviours are relatively consistent for both boys and girls from about 4 to 12 years. 1974 tr. Wertheim's Evolution & Revolution i. 38 Equally, modernity in political structure is positively related to a task-oriented bureaucracy and a recruitment on the basis of skills.

1970 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. Jan. 91 The findings of this study that the *task performance of internals was better.

1956 J. Klein Study of Groups viii. 112 If a member proposes that the group shall rehearse a play and another says that he hates play-acting, that is a *task-related contribution. 1972 Accountant 21 Sept. 357/2 A more task-related analysis might be used.

1967 M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour iv. 71 The *task roles of providing ‘fuel’, putting the ‘threads’ of the discussion together, and clarification, were generally performed by the same person; the social roles of making tactful comments to heal hurt feelings, and joking, were performed by others.

1577 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 439 A *taske rowle made for the manor of Romseley.

1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 57 Examined as to the operation of what is known as the *task and job system.

1875 Lowell Wks. (1890) IV. 360 At school Wordsworth wrote some *task-verses on subjects imposed by the master.

▪ II. task, v.
    (tɑːsk, -æ-)
    [f. task n. Cf. to fine, etc.]
    I. † 1. trans. To impose a tax upon; to tax; to exact tribute from. Obs.

1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 64 b/2 He shal taske and dyme your corn and sheues. a 1500 in Arnolde's Chron. (1811) p. xix, This yere lost the Kinge Normandy and Angeoy, and euery plough land [was] tasked at iij. s. for to gete it ageyne. 1530 [see 2]. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 92 Hee..in the neck of that, task't the whole State. 1598 W. Phillip Linschoten i. xcii. 152/1 All the townes men [were] tasked euery one at a certaine summe of mony. 1642 Rogers Naaman 424 He taskes thee not to the cost of Jewish worship, or Popish wast.

    2. a. To force, put, or set (a person) to a task; to impose a task on; to assign a definite amount of work to.

1530 Palsgr. 753/1, I taske, I put or sette one to his taske what laboure he shall do or what he shall paye, je tauxe. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 20 But now to taske the tasker. 1667 Woodhead St. Teresa ii. xi. 93 Let her task, and employ them in..Exercises. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 23 Thus man devotes his brother, and destroys;..Chains him, and tasks him, and exacts his sweat With stripes. 1828 Life Planter Jamaica 154 The negroes complained more of the [fact] of being tasked, than..of the additional labour.

    b. Const. to, with, with n. or inf. Often fig.

c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon xiv. 53 To task yourself to such a tedious life As die a maid. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 9 Nay, taske me to my word; approue me Lord. c 1600 ― Sonn. lxxii, O least the world should taske you to recite, What merit liu'd in me that you should loue. 1607 ― Cor. i. iii. 39 A Haruest man, that ['s] task'd to mowe Or all, or loose his hyre. 1726 Pope Odyss. xx. 134 Twelve female slaves..Task'd for the royal board to bolt the bran From the pure flour. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. v. iv, Man alone..tasks creation to assist him in murdering his brother worm! 1975 Sentinel (Ottawa) III. ii. 3/2 Capt. Ditter was tasked to help prepare this issue. 1980 Oxf. Star 20 Nov. (Advt.), A small engineering team tasked with the design, building and commissioning of high volume production lines.

    3. transf. and fig. a. To occupy or engage fully or burdensomely; to subject to severe burden, labour, or trial; to put a strain upon; to put in a condition of stress or difficulty; to put to the proof; = tax v. 4.

1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. vi. 30 Doctor Caius..Shall shuffle her away, While other sports are tasking of their mindes. 1599 ― Hen. V, i. ii. 6 Some things of weight, That taske our thoughts. 1647–8 Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 28 At length he resolved to task the King's inclinations. 1742 Richardson Pamela IV. 61 You must not task me too high. 1850 W. Irving Goldsmith i. 22 He tasked his slender means to the utmost in educating him. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 115 It tasked his diplomatic skill to effect his departure in safety.

    b. spec. To test the soundness of (a ship's timbers, a plank, etc.).

1803 Naval Chron. X. 259 That..frigate is..to be, what is called in the language of the dock yard, tasked, to see if her timbers are sound. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Tasking, examining a vessel to see whether her timbers are sound.

    4. To give or portion out (work) as a task.

a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. vii. (1642) 438 They have their work for the day tasked out unto them. 1812 [see tasker 3 b].

    II. 5. To take to task; to censure, reprove, chide, reprehend; = tax v. 6. Now const. with.

1580 G. Harvey Let. to Spenser Wks. (Grosart) I. 87 If it lyke you in the meane while..to see howe I taske a young Brother of myne. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 721 There is another pretty fable in Esop, tasking discontented persons under the name of Frogs. 1614 J. Cooke Tu Quoque F j, I call thee vp, and taske thee for thy slownesse. 1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry i. ii, To say ‘the late dead Marshal, The father of this young lord here, my client, Hath done his country great and faithful service’ Might task me of impertinence. 1965 K. Graham Eng. Criticism of Novel iv. 117 Trollope is another offender who is frequently tasked with endangering the wholeness of his novels. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Feb. 197/1 He tasks Taylor with suggesting that Hegel reappeared in Anglo-Saxon thought at the turn of the century.

    Hence tasked (tɑːskt, -æ-) ppl. a.; ˈtasking vbl. n. and ppl. a.

1543 Harding's Chron. cxvi. viii. P vj b, Saint Edmundes landes he hurt by great taskyng [Bodl. MSS. taxinge] And tallage. 1812 Tasked work [see tasker 3 b]. 1848 Lowell Vision Sir Launfal i. Prelude 28 Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking. 1852 D. G. Mitchell Dream Life 199 The fruits..hanging heavily from the tasked trees. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 435 It is the driver's duty to make the tasked hands do their work well. 1872 J. S. Blackie Ascent Cruachan v. in Lays Highl. 103 We have done our tasking bravely, With the thews of Scottish men.

Oxford English Dictionary