From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tithe \Tithe\, noun [OE. tithe, tethe, properly an adjective, tenth, AS. te['o]?a the tenth; akin to ti['e]n, t?n, t[=e]n, ten, G. zehnte, adjective, tenth, noun, a tithe, Icel. t[=i]und the tenth; tithe, Goth. ta['i]hunda tenth. See {Ten}, and cf. {Tenth}, {Teind}.]
1. A tenth; the tenth part of anything; specifically, the tenthpart of the increase arising from the profits of land and stock, allotted to the clergy for their support, as in England, or devoted to religious or charitable uses. Almost all the tithes of England and Wales are commuted by law into rent charges.
The tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil. --Neh. xiii. 5.
Note: Tithes are called personal when accuring from labor, art, trade, and navigation; predial, when issuing from the earth, as hay, wood, and fruit; and mixed, when accuring from beaste fed from the ground. --Blackstone.
2. Hence, a small part or proportion. --Bacon.
{Great tithes}, tithes of corn, hay, and wood.
{Mixed tithes}, tithes of wool, milk, pigs, etc.
{Small tithes}, personal and mixed tithes.
{Tithe commissioner}, one of a board of officers appointed by the government for arranging propositions for commuting, or compounding for, tithes. [Eng.] --Simmonds.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tithe \Tithe\, adjective Tenth. [Obs.]
Every tithe soul, 'mongst many thousand. --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tithe \Tithe\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Tithed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Tithing}.] [As. te['o]?ian.] To levy a tenth part on; to tax to the amount of a tenth; to pay tithes on.
Ye tithe mint and rue. --Luke xi. 42.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tithe \Tithe\, verb (used without an object) Tp pay tithes. [R.] --Tusser.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a levy of one tenth of something
2: an offering of a tenth part of some personal income
verb
1: exact a tithe from; "The church was tithed"
2: levy a tithe on (produce or a crop); "The wool was thithed"
3: pay one tenth of; pay tithes on, especially to the church; "He tithed his income to the Church"
4: pay a tenth of one's income, especially to the church; "Although she left the church officially, she still tithes"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
71 Moby Thesaurus words for "tithe": alms, alms fee, ask, assess, assessment, cess, charge, charge for, charity, collection, conscience money, contribution, decagonal, decahedral, decasyllabic, decimal, decimalization, decimation, decuple, demand, denary, direct tax, dole, donation, donative, duty, exact, fifth, graduated taxation, handout, impose, imposition, impost, indirect tax, joint return, levy, make dutiable, offering, offertory, pittance, pro rata, progressive tax, prorate, quinquepartition, quinquesection, require, separate returns, sextipartition, single tax, sixth, stick for, subscription, supertax, surtax, tax, tax base, tax dodging, tax evasion, tax exemption, tax return, tax structure, tax withholding, tax-exempt status, taxable income, taxation, tenfold, tenth, toll, tribute, votive offering, withholding tax
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Tithe a tenth of the produce of the earth consecrated and set apart for special purposes. The dedication of a tenth to God was recognized as a duty before the time of Moses. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20; Heb. 7:6); and Jacob vowed unto the Lord and said, "Of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." The first Mosaic law on this subject is recorded in Lev. 27:30-32. Subsequent legislation regulated the destination of the tithes (Num. 18:21-24, 26-28; Deut. 12:5, 6, 11, 17; 14:22, 23). The paying of the tithes was an important part of the Jewish religious worship. In the days of Hezekiah one of the first results of the reformation of religion was the eagerness with which the people brought in their tithes (2 Chr. 31:5, 6). The neglect of this duty was sternly rebuked by the prophets (Amos 4:4; Mal. 3:8-10). It cannot be affirmed that the Old Testament law of tithes is binding on the Christian Church, nevertheless the principle of this law remains, and is incorporated in the gospel (1 Cor. 9:13, 14); and if, as is the case, the motive that ought to prompt to liberality in the cause of religion and of the service of God be greater now than in Old Testament times, then Christians outght to go beyond the ancient Hebrew in consecrating both themselves and their substance to God. Every Jew was required by the Levitical law to pay three tithes of his property (1) one tithe for the Levites; (2) one for the use of the temple and the great feasts; and (3) one for the poor of the land.
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