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tidings

[tahy-dingz]
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noun (sometimes used with a singular verb)
  1. news, information, or intelligence: sad tidings.
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Origin of tidings

before 1100; Middle English; Old English tīdung; cognate with Dutch tijding, German Zeitung news; akin to Old Norse tīthindi. See tide2, -ing1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

informationworddirtintelligenceadvicecommunicationreportmessagebulletin

Examples from the Web for tidings

Historical Examples

  • The tidings were hailed with joy; not only by the young couple, but by all the villagers.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • "You have as yet given us no tidings of Phidias and his household," said Philothea.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Six months more passed, and still no tidings of the ship or its commander.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • But the tidings were gradually breaking in upon the mind of Andrew Lanning.

  • The tidings reached the Duke, at his hunting-lodge of Valognes.

British Dictionary definitions for tidings

tidings

pl n
  1. information or news
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Word Origin

Old English tīdung; related to Middle Low German tīdinge information, Old Norse tidhendi events; see tide ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tidings

n.

"announcement of an event," 1069, from Old English tidung "event, occurrence, piece of news," perhaps in part a verbal noun from Old English tidan "to happen," in part from Old Norse tiðendi (plural) "events, news," from tiðr (adj.) "occurring," from PIE *di-ti- (see tide (n.)). Cf. Norwegian tidende "tidings, news," Dutch tijding, German Zeitung "newspaper."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper