till2
- to cultivate the soil.
Origin of till2
Related Words
box, safe, kitty, treasury, vault, tray, plow, prepare, farm, mulch, work, plant, turn, dig, sow, labor, grow, tend, dress, harrowExamples from the Web for tilled
Contemporary Examples
They formed local councils, headed judicial proceedings, tilled the land, and rose through the ranks of government.
Think of the possibilities when women are making sure that fields are tilled and crops distributed without corruption.
Nobel Peace Prize Winners Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf RecognizedSwanee Hunt
December 10, 2011
Historical Examples
The land, as at Sparta, must have been tilled by slaves, since other occupations were found for the citizens.
LawsPlato
The ridge is quite broken and in places can not be tilled profitably.
The Negro FarmerCarl Kelsey
Hitherto the Negro has tilled much of the best land of the South.
The Negro FarmerCarl Kelsey
The number of times a vineyard should be tilled depends on the soil and the season.
Manual of American Grape-GrowingU. P. Hedrick
He rented the place upon which he lived, as also the hands with which he tilled it.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass
till1
- Also (not standard): 'til short for until
- Scot to; towards
- dialect in order thatcome here till I tell you
Word Origin
usage
till2
- to cultivate and work (land) for the raising of crops
- another word for plough
Word Origin
till3
- a box, case, or drawer into which the money taken from customers is put, now usually part of a cash register
Word Origin
till4
- an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of rock fragments of various sizes. The most common is boulder clay
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for tilled
till
prep.
"until," Old English til (Northumbrian), from Old Norse til "to, until," from Proto-Germanic *tilan (cf. Danish til, Old Frisian til "to, till," Gothic tils "convenient," German Ziel "limit, end, goal"). A common preposition in Scandinavian, probably originally the accusative case of a noun now lost except for Icelandic tili "scope," the noun used to express aim, direction, purpose (e.g. aldrtili "death," literally "end of life"). Also cf. German Ziel "end, limit, point aimed at, goal," and compare till (v.).
till
v.
"cultivate (land)" (early 13c.), "plow" (late 14c.), from Old English tilian "tend, work at, get by labor," originally "strive after," related to till "fixed point, goal," and til "good, suitable," from Proto-Germanic *tilojanan (cf. Old Frisian tilia "to get, cultivate," Old Saxon tilian "to obtain," Middle Dutch, Dutch telen "to breed, raise, cultivate, cause," Old High German zilon "to strive," German zielen "to aim, strive"), from source of till (prep.). Related: Tilled; tilling.
till
n.
"cashbox," mid-15c., from Anglo-French tylle "compartment," Old French tille "compartment, shelter on a ship," probably from Old Norse þilja "plank, floorboard," from Proto-Germanic *theljon. The other theory is that the word is from Middle English tillen "to draw," from Old English -tyllan (see toll (v.)), with a sense evolution as in drawer (see draw).
till
- An unstratified, unconsolidated mass of boulders, pebbles, sand, and mud deposited by the movement or melting of a glacier. The size and shape of the sediments that constitute till vary widely.
Idioms and Phrases with tilled
till
In addition to the subsequent idioms beginning with till
- till all hours
- till hell freezes over
- till the cows come home
also see:
- hand in the till
- until