My country, 'tis of thee

Read more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.

What does ‘tis mean? ‘Tis, as in “`tis the season” is an old—very old—contraction of it is. The apostrophe replaces the i in the word it to create ’tis . . . not quite how we create contractions today. According to Google’s Ngram Viewer, the contraction ’tis was a fan favorite in the early 1700s. At this time, it was likely used more often than it’s.   Why is ’tis used? ‘Tis …