Tithe \Tithe\, n. [OE. tithe, tethe, properly an adj., tenth,
AS. te['o]?a the tenth; akin to ti['e]n, t?n, t[=e]n, ten, G.
zehnte, adj., tenth, n., 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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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