Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Till in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels till as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Till

[OE. tilen, tilien, AS. tilian, teolian, to aim, strive for, till; akin to OS. tilian to get, D. telen to propagate, G. zielen to aim, ziel an end, object, and perhaps also to E. tide, time, from the idea of something fixed or definite. Cf. Teal, Till, prep..]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordtill
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[OE. tilen, tilien, AS. tilian, teolian, to aim, strive for, till; akin to OS. tilian to get, D. telen to propagate, G. zielen to aim, ziel an end, object, and perhaps also to E. tide, time, from the idea of something fixed or definite. Cf. Teal, Till, prep..]
Selected historical definitionTo plow and prepare for seed, and to sow, dress, raise crops from, etc., to cultivate; as, to till the earth, a field, a farm.
Signed record IDwebster1913-till-verb-ce2cce149e01
Source locatorCIDE.T, paragraph 5392; Gutenberg eBook 669
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 669Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "till" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. tilen, tilien, AS. tilian, teolian, to aim, strive for, till; akin to OS. tilian to get, D. telen to propagate, G. zielen to aim, ziel an end, object, and perhaps also to E. tide, time, from the idea of something fixed or definite. Cf. Teal, Till, prep..]" The selected historical definition says: "To plow and prepare for seed, and to sow, dress, raise crops from, etc., to cultivate; as, to till the earth, a field, a farm."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

More released T records

Every card owns a different source record and historical sense.

adverb

Then

[Originally the same word as than. See Than.]

Webster 1913 exact recordverb

Term

[See Term, n., and cf. Terminate.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Total

[F., fr. LL. totalis, fr. L. tolus all,whole. Cf. Factotum, Surtout, Teetotum.]

Webster 1913 exact recordverb

Trust

[OE. trusten, trosten. See Trust, n.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Table

[F., fr. L. tabula a board, tablet, a painting. Cf. Tabular, Taffrail, Tavern.]

Webster 1913 exact record

Browse released T records - browse all historical records.