Taxpayer

How to spell taxpayer

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce taxpayer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does taxpayer mean?

1. nounA person or organisation that pays tax to the government.

Taxpayer in a sentence

• Every taxpayer must file a return by the deadline.

• The new road was funded entirely by the taxpayer.

Where does taxpayer come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is a transparent English compound built from two older borrowings. The first part, 'tax', came into English in the 1300s from the Old French 'taxer', meaning to assess or impose a charge, which in turn rested on the Latin 'taxare', literally 'to handle, evaluate, or appraise'. The second part, 'pay', also entered through Old French as 'paier', from the Latin 'pacare', meaning 'to pacify or satisfy', because settling a debt was seen as pacifying a creditor. The agent suffix '-er' is the native Old English ending that turns a verb into the person who performs it, the same ending found in 'baker' and 'worker'. The combined noun 'taxpayer' is a much later formation, appearing in English from around the early 1800s as modern systems of public finance grew. The spelling is fully regular once you see the three plain parts, so the only trap is remembering it is written as a single solid word.

How the word is built

• tax (a compulsory charge levied by government)
• pay (to give money owed)
• -er (one who does)