apparently from מָשַׁל in some original sense of superiority in mental action; properly, a pithy maxim, usually of metaphorical nature; hence, a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse); byword, like, parable, proverb.
a primitive root; to drive (an animal, a workman, a debtor, an army); by implication, to tax, harass, tyrannize; distress, driver, exact(-or), oppress(-or), [idiom] raiser of taxes, taskmaster.