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Origin and history of surtax

surtax(n.)

"extra tax, tax on something already taxed," 1834, from French surtaxe, from Old French sur- "over" (see sur- (1)) + taxe "tax" (see tax (n.)).

also from 1834

Entries linking to surtax

tax(n.)

early 14c., "obligatory contribution levied by a sovereign or government," from Anglo-French tax, Old French taxe, and directly from Medieval Latin taxa, from Latin taxare (see tax (v.)). Related: Taxes.

Tax-gatherer is attested from 1550s. Tax-dodger "one who avoids payment of a tax or taxes" is by 1876. Tax-deduction is from 1942; tax-shelter is attested from 1961; tax-break by 1968; tax-bracket by 1975.

sur-(1)

word-forming element meaning "over, above, beyond, in addition," especially in words from Anglo-French and Old French, from Old French sour-, sor-, sur-, a form of super-, from Latin super "above, over" (from PIE root *uper "over").

It is in surname, surcharge, surpass, survive, but little used as a word-forming element in English outside scientific and technical terms.

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    Trends of surtax

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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