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tythe

[tahyth]
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noun, verb (used with or without object), tythed, tyth·ing. British.
  1. tithe.
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tithe

[tahyth]
noun
  1. Sometimes tithes. the tenth part of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God or for works of mercy, or the same amount regarded as an obligation or tax for the support of the church, priesthood, or the like.
  2. any tax, levy, or the like, especially of one-tenth.
  3. a tenth part or any indefinitely small part of anything.
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verb (used with object), tithed, tith·ing.
  1. to give or pay a tithe or tenth of (produce, money, etc.).
  2. to give or pay tithes on (crops, income, etc.).
  3. to exact a tithe from (a person, community, parish, etc.).
  4. to levy a tithe on (crops, income, etc.).
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verb (used without object), tithed, tith·ing.
  1. to give or pay a tithe.
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Also British, tythe.

Origin of tithe

before 900; (noun) Middle English ti(ghe)the, Old English teogotha tenth; (v.) Middle English tithen, Old English teogothian to take the tenth of, derivative of the noun
Related formstithe·less, adjectiveun·tithed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tything

Historical Examples

  • Thus in the tything of Gillingham alone forty-five deaths are recorded, and in the neighbouring tything of Bourton seventeen.

    The Great Pestilence (A.D. 1348-9)

    Francis Aidan Gasquet

  • Paradise Row, as every one knows, is right at the other end of the town, past the Tything.

British Dictionary definitions for tything

tithe

noun
  1. (often plural) Christianity a tenth part of agricultural or other produce, personal income, or profits, contributed either voluntarily or as a tax for the support of the church or clergy or for charitable purposes
  2. any levy, esp of one tenth
  3. a tenth or very small part of anything
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verb
  1. (tr)
    1. to exact or demand a tithe or tithes from (an individual or group)
    2. to levy a tithe upon (a crop or amount of produce, etc)
  2. (intr) to pay a tithe or tithes
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Derived Formstither, noun

Word Origin

Old English teogoth; related to Old Frisian tegotha, Old Saxon tegotho, Old High German zehando, Old Norse tīundi, Gothic taihunda
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 tything

tithe

n.

Old English teogoþa (Anglian), teoþa (West Saxon) "tenth," from Proto-Germanic *tegunthon, *tekhunthon. Retained in ecclesiastical sense while the form was replaced in ordinal use by tenth (influenced by ten).

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tithe

v.

Old English teoþian, from the root of tithe (n.). Related: Tithed; tithing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
tything in Culture

tithe

A tenth part of one's annual income contributed to support the clergy or a church. The Mosaic law required the Israelites to pay a tithe for the support of worship.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.