task
/tæsk/noun, verb
task is spelled T-A-S-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 45 times per million words in written English, the 2,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, task means “A piece of work done as part of one’s duties” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of task is tasks.
How many letters and syllables are in task?
| Letters | 4: T-A-S-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 45 times per million words; the 2,253rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is task?
Task appears 45 times per million words in written English, the 2,253rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce task?
- UK /tɑːsk/
- /task/
- US /tæsk/
Task has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-task.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with task?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as task from its last stressed vowel (/æsk/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: kast, skat.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of task
- tasks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tasking participle, present
- tasked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does task mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A piece of work done as part of one’s duties.
daily task, monotonous task, regular task, parental task
- 2
A state of diligence in work on a task.
I put him to task on the chores.
- 3
Any piece of work done.
carry out a task
- 4
A single action undertaken by a given agent.
Each member of the team completed tasks in service of the goal.
- 5
A difficult or tedious undertaking; a substantial project.
Getting him to change his behavior will be quite a task for you.
- 6
An objective or duty.
Your task is the elimination of the termites.
- 7
A process or execution of a program.
The user killed the frozen task.
- 8
State of being subject to reprimands.
call to task, take to task
- 9
Alternative form of taisch.
verb
- 1
To assign a task to; to impose a task on.
On my first day in the office, I was tasked with sorting a pile of invoices.
- 2
To oppress with severe or excessive burdens; to tax
- 3
obsoleteTo institute a tax on.
- 4
To charge, as with a fault.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Task in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tâche , corvée |
| German | Aufgabe, Pflicht , beauftragen |
| Portuguese | tarefa, incumbência, dever , atarefar , objetivo |
| Spanish | tarea, faena, tonga, tanda , incumbencia , cometido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does task come from?
From Middle English taske (“task, tax”), from Old Northern French tasque, (compare Old French variant tasche), from Medieval Latin tasca, alteration of taxa, from Latin taxō (“to censure; to charge”). Doublet of tax.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).