any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
"he prepared for great undertakings"
A piece of work done as part of one’s duties.
"The old dialect dictionary listed that archaic spelling as an alternative form of task, which puzzled me until I found a historical manuscript where it was used instead of the modern word."
Alternative form of taisch
In plain English: A task is a specific job or piece of work that needs to be done.
"She decided to tackle the daunting task of cleaning the entire garage before the weekend."
To assign a task to, or impose a task on.
"The manager decided to delegate the difficult reporting task directly to me."
In plain English: To task someone means to give them a specific job or responsibility to do.
"You might task yourself with learning a new language before the summer ends."
Usage: Use this verb when you are assigning work or imposing an obligation on someone else rather than performing the action yourself. It often carries a slightly more formal tone compared to synonyms like "ask.
The word "task" comes from the Middle English taske, which was borrowed from a form of the Latin verb taxō meaning "to charge." While its original sense referred specifically to an assigned amount of work or a levy, it entered English as a doublet of the modern word "tax," reflecting that shared root in assessing costs.