"T" Word Origins

tights

Origin

From "tight" plus the plural suffix "-s," describing the garment's snug fit.

tightwad

Origin

From tight + wad.

Tigre

Origin

Etymology tree Tigre ትግሬ (təgre)bor. English Tigre Borrowed from Tigre ትግሬ (təgre).

tigress

French

From French tigresse, formed from "tiger" plus the feminine suffix "-ess."

Tijuana

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Tijuana, possibly from Kumeyaay Tiwan (literally “by-the-sea”).

tiki

Origin

Borrowed from the Maori word tiki, meaning "carved figure," which in Polynesian mythology is also the name of the first human.

til

Old English

The time-related sense comes from Old English til ("to, until"), likely reinforced by a related Old Norse word — the same root that gives us "till." The sesame sense is unrelated and comes through Hindi/Sanskrit tila.

tilde

Origin

Borrowed from Spanish tilde, from Latin titulus (“superscript”) or from tildar. Doublet of titer/titre, title, titlo, tittle, and titulus. Compare Portuguese til.

tile

Latin

From Old English tigele, ultimately from Latin tēgula, meaning "roof tile," related to a root meaning "to cover."

till

Old English

From Old English til, related to Old Norse til, both from a Germanic root meaning "toward" or "up to a point." It is not a shortened form of "until" — in fact "until" was built from "till."

tillage

Origin

From Middle English tillage; by surface analysis, till + -age.

tiller

Middle English

From Middle English tilier, built from "till" (to cultivate) plus "-er."

tillerman

Origin

From tiller + -man.

Tillie

Origin

A playful nickname, likely a punning stretch from "till" (a cash register or money drawer) combined with the familiar girl's name Tillie.

tillman

Middle English

From Middle English tylman, literally "till-man" — someone whose job is tilling.

tillow

Origin

From Middle English *tilwen, *telwien, *telȝen, from Old English telgian (“to put forth branches”), from Proto-West Germanic *telgōn, *tilgijan (“to branch, sprout, produce”).

tilly

Irish

The "free extra" sense comes from Irish tuilleadh, meaning "more" or "addition".

tilt

Old English · 1510

From Old English roots meaning "unsteady" or "to shake"; the jousting sense arose around 1510 from the barrier separating combatants, and the gaming-frustration sense is said to come from pinball, where "tilting" the machine could end your turn.

tilth

Origin

From Middle English tilthe, from Old English tilþ, tilþe, corresponding to till + -th (abstract nominal suffix).

Tim

Origin

The service was originally reached in major cities by dialling the letters TIM (846) on a dial telephone.

timber

Old English

From Old English timber, related to a very old Indo-European root meaning "to build" — the same root that eventually gives us words like "domestic" and "dome" in other languages.

timbered

Origin

From timber + -ed.

timberland

Origin

From Middle English *tymbre-lond, from Old English timberland, tymberlond, equivalent to timber + land.

timbre

Origin

From French timbre, ultimately from Ancient Greek τύμπανον (túmpanon, “drum”). Doublet of tympanum, timpani, timbal, and tymbal.

Timbuktu

Origin

Unclear. See Timbuktu § Toponymy.

time

Old English

From Old English tima, related to an ancient root meaning "to divide" — time was originally thought of as something divided into portions.

timeful

Origin

From Middle English tymeful; equivalent to time + -ful.

timekeeper

Origin

From time + keeper.

timekeeping

Origin

From time + keeping.

timeline

Origin

A straightforward compound of time + line.

timely

Old English

From Old English roots combining "time" with the suffix "-ly", meaning "in a time-appropriate way".

timeous

Origin

From earlier timous, from Middle English tymous, *tymwos, *tymwis (“early”), equivalent to timewise. Cognate with Scots timeous (“timely”). By surface analysis, time + -ous.

timepiece

Origin

A compound of time + piece.

timer

Origin

Formed from "time" (verb) plus the agent suffix "-er".

times

Origin

The multiplication sense comes from the idea of repeating something a given number of "times".

timetable

Origin

A compound of time + table.

timid

Latin

From Latin timidus, "full of fear", from timeo, "to fear".

timidity

Origin

From timid + -ity, from Middle French timidité, from Latin timiditātem.

Timor

Malay

From Malay timur, meaning "east".

timorous

Origin

From Late Middle English timorous (“(adjective) fearful, frightened; causing fear, dreadful, terrible; deferential, modest; (noun) timid people collectively”), borrowed from Old French temoros, temorous, from Medieval Latin timōrōsus, from timōr- (the stem of Latin timor (“dread, fear”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’). Timor is derived from timeō (“to be afraid of, fear”) (further origin uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *temH- (“dark”)) + -or (suffix forming third-declension masculine abstract nouns). Doublet of timoroso.

Timothy

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Timotheos, meaning "honouring God", via Latin and Old French.

timpani

Origin

Borrowed from Italian timpani, plural of timpano (“drum”), from Latin tympanum (“drum”), from Ancient Greek τύμπανον (túmpanon), from τύπτω (túptō, “to strike, to hit”). Doublet of tympanum, timbre, timbal, and tymbal.

timur

Origin

Borrowed from the Nepali word timura for the same spice.

tin

Old English

From Old English tin, going back to a shared Germanic word for the metal.

Tina

Origin

A short form of Christina or any name ending in "-tina", such as Martina.

tinamou

Origin

Borrowed from French tinamou, from Kari'na tinamú (“great tinamou”).

tinct

Origin

From Middle English tynct (noun) and tincten, tyncten, tynkten (verb), borrowed from Latin tīnctus, past participle of tingō (“to tinge”). Doublet of tint.

tinction

Origin

Borrowed from Latin tinctiō (“a soaking, dipping”).