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In this Adventure in Etymology we find out what connects the words taxi, task, tax and taste.
A taxi [ˈtaksɪj / ˈtæksi] is a vehicle, usually a car, that may be hired for single journeys by members of the public, particularly one with an automated meter to calculate the fare.
As a verb, to taxi means to move an aircraft on the ground under its own power, or to travel or transport by taxi. The aircraft moving sense comes from a slang term for training aircraft practicing ground operations, which appeared to move around like taxis.
Taxi is an abbreviation of taximeter cab from French taximètre (taximeter), from German Taxameter (taximeter), from Medieval Latin taxa (tax, charge) and -meter (device to measure a certain property) [source].
A taximeter is a device installed in a taxi that calculates the fare based upon distance travelled and waiting time. It is often abbreviated to meter [source].
Taxa comes from Latin taxō (to feel, charge, rate, judge), from PIE *teh₂g- (to touch, grasp, take with the hand) [source].
A cabriolet (carriage)
Cab is a clipping of cabriolet (a car or carriage with a retractable or folding top), which comes from French cabriolet (a convertible car, a cabriolet carriage), from Italian cabriola (horse caper), from Latin capreolus (a roe deer), from PIE *kápros (billy goat [source].
Words from the PIE root *teh₂g- (to touch, grasp, etc) possibly include tage (to take, get, catch, charge) in Danish, taxeren (to evaluate, appraise) in Dutch, taxa (fee, tax, rate) in Portuguese, teimlo (to feel, touch) in Welsh, and tack, tact, take, tangent, task, taste, tax and thwack in English [source].
Words from the PIE root *kápros (billy goat) possibly include gafr (goat) in Welsh, gabhar (goat) in Irish, hafur (billy goat) in Icelandic, kauris (deer) in Finnish, chevron (rafter) in French, and haver (to talk foolishly, to chatter) in Scots [source].
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I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.