I. ˈtīth verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English tithen, from Old English teogothian, tēothian, from teogotha, tēotha tenth — more at tithe II
transitive verb
1. : to pay or give a tenth part of especially for the support of the church : pay taxes in the form of tithes on
tithe an estate
tithe a crop
tithe one's income
2. obsolete
a. : to take a tenth part of or every tenth one from : divide into tenths
divers of them were constrained to tithe themselves and eat the tenth man — Henry Spelman
b. : to reduce by one tenth of the original number (as by putting to death one man out of every ten) : decimate
3.
a. : to levy a tithe on : impose the payment of a tenth upon : tax to the amount of a tenth : exact tithe from
b. : to collect or exact one tenth from (as goods) as a tithe : take tithe of
tithe the product of the earth — Sydney Smith
intransitive verb
: to pay tithe ; specifically : to give a tenth of one's income as a tithe especially for the support of church or religious work
church members are exhorted to tithe
a fundamentalist congregation … in which everyone tithes — Hugh Morrow
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English tigthe, tithe, from Old English teogotha, tēotha tenth; akin to Old Frisian tegotha tenth, Middle Low German tegede; all from a prehistoric West Germanic alteration of the source of Old High German zehanto tenth — more at teind
1. : a tenth part of something paid as a voluntary contribution or as a tax for religious purposes and especially for the support of a priesthood or religious establishment: as
a. : a tenth part (as of a person's entire possessions or of the yearly increase thereof) paid in kind as a tax by the Hebrews and other ancient peoples
b. : an originally voluntary but later legally required payment of one tenth of one's yearly income for the support usually of the local parish church in medieval and later times
c. : a payment in kind or money consisting until the middle of the 19th century of one tenth of the yearly profits arising from land, stock, or personal industry and traditionally required of the inhabitants of a parish in the United Kingdom for the support of the parish church — see mixed tithe , personal tithe , praedial tithe , teind
d. : a tenth of one's income given voluntarily for the support of church or religious work
2. : the voluntary or required obligation represented by individual tithes — used without article
in the seventh century the payment of tithe was a religious duty — F.M.Stenton
3.
a. : the tenth part of something : tenth
a hundred thousand a year … a cool tithe of a million a year to manipulate — G.A.Wagner
b. : a small part of something : an insignificant portion : one bit
these are only a tithe of the treasures in the … museum — Elizabeth Montizambert
passed over for men who have not a tithe of his ability — H.J.Laski
no man … this country a tithe as well as the author — Louis Golding
4. : a tax, levy, or tribute of usually one tenth for a purpose other than a religious one
forced to pay a fixed tithe that goes … into the private till of the Pasha — Joachim Joesten
III. adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from tithe (II)
1.
a. : due as or given in payment of tithe — see tithe pig
b. : of or relating to tithes
tithe gatherer
tithe payer
2. : tenth
a tithe part