tax

/tæks/

//tæks// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"tax" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tax” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #758 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#758
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Money or goods collected by a government (or an entity to whom the government has delegated this power, e.g. in tax farming) to fund itself and its services, for example by levying a charge on inco...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tax vs to
33% similar
tax vs TV
0% similar
tax vs te
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tax
PropertyValue
Headwordtax
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tæks/
Letters3
Frequency rank#758
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tax” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). tax lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for tax is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tæks/. Corpus data places it at rank #758 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tax, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "to", "TV", "te", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English taxe, from Middle French taxe, from Medieval Latin taxa, from Latin taxō (“to appraise, value, estimate; (medieval) to tax”). Doublet of task. Displaced native Old English gafol, which was also the word for “tribute” and “rent”. The correct English form is tax, spelled T-A-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    Money or goods collected by a government (or an entity to whom the government has delegated this power, e.g. in tax farming) to fund itself and its services, for example by levying a charge on income, purchases (sales), property or harvest, other than that money which is collected by the government in exchange for specific goods (e.g. the purchase of surplus vehicles).
  2. 2
    A charge (of money, food, labor, etc) collected by a person, organization, etc; something required (exacted) from someone who is (really or notionally) under the control of the taxer, such as a contribution or service.
  3. 3
    A burdensome demand;

Etymology

From Middle English taxe, from Middle French taxe, from Medieval Latin taxa, from Latin taxō (“to appraise, value, estimate; (medieval) to tax”). Doublet of task. Displaced native Old English gafol, which was also the word for “tribute” and “rent”.

This word in other languages

impuesto(Español)impôt(Français)Steuer(Deutsch)imposto(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tax"?
"tax" is spelled T-A-X. The IPA pronunciation is /tæks/.
What does "tax" mean?
As a noun, "tax" means: Money or goods collected by a government (or an entity to whom the government has delegated this power, e.g. in tax farming) to fund itself and its services, for example by levying a charge on inco...
What words are commonly confused with "tax"?
"tax" is commonly confused with "to", "TV", "te". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tax"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tax" is /tæks/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "tax"?
From Middle English taxe, from Middle French taxe, from Medieval Latin taxa, from Latin taxō (“to appraise, value, estimate; (medieval) to tax”). Doublet of task. Displaced native Old English gafol, which was also the word for “tribute” and “rent”. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “tax”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-A-X - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /tæks/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “to” - see the side-by-side comparison. tax vs to
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list