tithe English · revision 1130

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /taɪð/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''tithe'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from Old English ''teogoþa'' (Anglian), ''tēoþa'' (West Saxon) “tenth”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|gem-pro|*tehunþô|t=tenth]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[tenth]], and Etymonline notes that it survived in the church sense after ''tenth'' replaced it as the ordinal number.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) It is related to German ''zehnte'' and Gothic ''taíhunda''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a verb, to pay a tenth of one's goods (854 in Old English);^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) as a noun, the tenth part of produce paid to support the church (about 1200).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In early Middle English the word could still mean simply “tenth”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) From 1382 the verb also meant to impose a tithe on someone,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and in Middle English it could mean to kill one in ten, to decimate.^(Etymonline) The noun was extended to any tax of a tenth and to a very small part of anything.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) ''Tithing'' also named an old administrative unit of ten households.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 737 – Old English ''teogoþa'' “tenth”.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 854 – verb, to pay a tenth.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1200 – noun, a tenth paid to the church.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1382 – verb, to exact a tithe from.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tenth of one's yearly income or produce, given voluntarily or paid as a tax, especially to support the [[church]] or [[clergy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The institution or obligation of paying tithes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A tax or levy, especially of one tenth.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A tenth; also a very small part.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give or pay a tenth of one's income, especially to a church.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To levy a tithe on.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tithable]]

+ * [[tither]]

+ * [[titheless]]

+ * [[tithing]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tenth]]

+ * [[ten]]

+ * [[decimate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}