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till ¹

(tĭl)

tr.v. tilled, till·ing, tills

To prepare (land) for the raising of crops, as by plowing and harrowing; cultivate.

[Middle English tillen, from Old English tilian.]

tilla·ble adj.

till²

(tĭl)

prep.

Until.

conj.

Until.

[Middle English, from Old English til, from Old Norse.]

Usage Note: Till and until are generally interchangeable in both writing and speech, though as the first word in a sentence until is usually preferred: Until you get that paper written, don't even think about going to the movies. · Till is actually the older word, with until having been formed by the addition to it of the prefix un-, meaning "up to." In the 1700s, the spelling 'till became fashionable, as if till were a shortened form of until. Although 'till is now nonstandard, 'til is sometimes used in this way and is considered acceptable, though it is etymologically incorrect.

till³

(tĭl)

1. A drawer, small chest, or compartment for money, as in a store.

2. A supply of money; a purse.

[Middle English tille.]

till⁴

(tĭl)

Glacial drift composed of an unconsolidated, heterogeneous mixture of clay, sand, pebbles, cobbles, and boulders.

[Origin unknown.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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