TITHE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tithe mean? 

• TITHE (noun)
  The noun TITHE has 2 senses:

1. a levy of one tenth of something

2. an offering of a tenth part of some personal income

  Familiarity information: TITHE used as a noun is rare.

• TITHE (verb)
  The verb TITHE has 4 senses:

1. exact a tithe from

2. levy a tithe on (produce or a crop)

3. pay one tenth of; pay tithes on, especially to the church

4. pay a tenth of one's income, especially to the church

  Familiarity information: TITHE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TITHE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A levy of one tenth of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("tithe" is a kind of...):

levy (a charge imposed and collected)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An offering of a tenth part of some personal income

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("tithe" is a kind of...):

offering (money contributed to a religious organization)

• TITHE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tithe    ... he / she / it tithes   
Past simple: tithed   
Past participle: tithed   
-ing form: tithing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Exact a tithe from

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

The church was tithed

Hypernyms (to "tithe" is one way to...):

bill; charge (demand payment)

Verb group:

tithe (levy a tithe on (produce or a crop))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Levy a tithe on (produce or a crop)

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

The wool was tithed

Hypernyms (to "tithe" is one way to...):

impose; levy (impose and collect)

Verb group:

tithe (exact a tithe from)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pay one tenth of; pay tithes on, especially to the church

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

He tithed his income to the Church

Verb group:

tithe (pay a tenth of one's income, especially to the church)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tither (someone who pays tithes)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Pay a tenth of one's income, especially to the church

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

Although she left the church officially, she still tithes

Hypernyms (to "tithe" is one way to...):

pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)

Verb group:

tithe (pay one tenth of; pay tithes on, especially to the church)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

tither (someone who pays tithes)

 Context examples 

There are too many special fields for any one man, in a whole lifetime, to master a tithe of them.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Tusks were also used to pay tithes to the church.

(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)

In the first place, he must make such an agreement for tithes as may be beneficial to himself and not offensive to his patron.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

As for Colonel Brandon, she was not only ready to worship him as a saint, but was moreover truly anxious that he should be treated as one in all worldly concerns; anxious that his tithes should be raised to the utmost; and scarcely resolved to avail herself, at Delaford, as far as she possibly could, of his servants, his carriage, his cows, and his poultry.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

But so little interest had he taken in the matter, that he owed all his knowledge of the house, garden, and glebe, extent of the parish, condition of the land, and rate of the tithes, to Elinor herself, who had heard so much of it from Colonel Brandon, and heard it with so much attention, as to be entirely mistress of the subject.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)