tidings

[tahy-dingz]

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noun (sometimes used with a singular verb)

news, information, or intelligence: sad tidings.

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. 2019

Related Words for tidings

information, word, dirt, intelligence, advice, communication, report, message, bulletin

Examples from the Web for tidings

Historical Examples of tidings

"You have as yet given us no tidings of Phidias and his household," said Philothea.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
The tidings were hailed with joy; not only by the young couple, but by all the villagers.
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.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
The tidings reached the Duke, at his hunting-lodge of Valognes.
Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II
Charlotte Mary Yonge

British Dictionary definitions for tidings

tidings

pl n

information or news

Word Origin for tidings

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

"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."