"T" Word Origins

titania

Origin

A style of Diana in Ovid, fem. of titanius, from Titan. As faeries were identified with Classical nymphs, the queen of the faeries was equated with Diana.

titanic

Greek

From "Titan," the race of giant gods in Greek mythology.

titanium

Latin

A modern Latin coinage, named after the Titans of Greek mythology to suggest strength.

titch

Origin

From the stage name of the Victorian entertainer "Little Tich," known for his small stature.

tithe

Old English

From Old English teogotha, meaning 'tenth'.

tithing

Origin

From Middle English tithyng, from Old English tēoþung or tēoðung, from tēoða (“a tithe”) + -ing (suffix forming patronymics and diminutives) and tēoþian (“to tithe”) + -ung (suffix forming verbal nouns). Equivalent to tithe + -ing.

titi

Origin

Borrowed from Māori for one sense; the monkey name comes from South American indigenous languages.

titillation

Origin

Borrowed from Latin tītillātiō, tītillātiōnem.

titivil

Origin

From Titivillus, a demon said to introduce errors into the work of scribes. Used in medieval mystery plays, from which it entered common usage.

title

Latin

From Old English titul, from Latin titulus, "inscription, heading" — a relative of "tilde" and "tittle."

titleholder

Origin

From title + holder.

titling

Origin

See title.

titmouse

Origin

From Middle English titmose, compound of tit (“small bird”) and mose, from Old English māse (“titmouse”), from Proto-West Germanic *maisā, from Proto-Germanic *maisǭ (compare Dutch mees, German Meise, Old Norse meisingr, French mésange), from *maisaz (“tiny, puny”) (compare Norwegian meis (“skinny weakling”)). Spelling as well as the plural form in imitation of the otherwise unrelated mouse.

Tito

Latin

From the Romance given name Tito, ultimately from Latin Titus.

titration

French

From French titrer 'to determine the strength of a solution', from titre 'standard, fineness, proportion'.

titter

Origin

First attested in the 1610s. Probably from Middle English *titeren, *titren (attested in Middle English titering (“hesitation, vacillation”)), probably a frequentative of Middle English titten (“to waver”), related to Old Norse titra (“to shake, shiver, quiver”), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to snicker”).

tittle

Origin

From Middle English tytle, titel, titele, from Anglo-Norman titil, titule and Medieval Latin titulus (“small stroke, diacritical mark, accent”), from Latin titulus (“title”). Doublet of tilde, titer/titre, title, titlo, and titulus.

tittup

Origin

Probably imitative.

titty

Origin

From tit plus the diminutive suffix -y.

Titus

Latin

From the Latin praenomen Titus, thought to mean "honorable" or "strong."

tivo

Origin

From the brand name TiVo, a pioneering digital video recorder service.

Tivoli

Latin

From the Italian town of Tivoli, ultimately from the Latin name Tibur.

Tiwari

Origin

Transliteration of Hindi तिवारी (tivārī), Nepali तिवारी (tiwārī).

tizzy

Origin · 1930

Origin uncertain; recorded in American English from the 1930s, possibly linked to an old slang word for a sixpence coin.

tk

Origin

An abbreviation of "to come" — the letter C is swapped for K because the sequence "tk" is rare in English, making it easy to search for and remove before printing.

TL;DR

English

An initialism of "too long; didn't read," from internet forums, where it began as a complaint and became a label for the summary itself.

TMB

English

An initialism, standing for different phrases in different fields.

tmi

English

An initialism of 'too much information'.

TMT

English

An initialism with several unrelated expansions.

TMZ

Origin

The name of the organization was derived from the initialism of thirty-mile zone.

TNT

English

An abbreviation of trinitrotoluene, from tri- "three", nitro- (the nitro chemical group) and toluene, the aromatic hydrocarbon it is made from.

to

Old English

From Old English tō, going back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to" — a very old, core function word with cognates across most Germanic languages.

toa

Origin

Borrowed from the Dieri language word for "sign, mark, or messenger."

toad

Old English

From Old English tāde, of uncertain older origin, related to similar words in Scots and Scandinavian languages.

toadly

Origin

From toad + -ly.

toadstool

Origin

From Middle English tode-stole, tadstol, taddestol, equivalent to toad + stool. Compare dialectal English frogstool (“toadstool”), Saterland Frisian Poagestoul (“mushroom”, literally “frog's stool”), Dutch paddenstoel.

toady

Origin

A shortened form of "toad-eater" — originally a quack doctor's assistant who pretended to eat toads (thought poisonous) so the doctor could "cure" them, hence a servile helper.

toast

Middle English

From Middle English tost — the "salute with a drink" sense grew from an old custom of flavoring a drink with a piece of spiced toast, later applied instead to the person being honored.

toaster

Origin

From toast plus the agent suffix -er, meaning "the thing (or person) that toasts."

toasty

Origin

From toast plus the adjective suffix -y.

tobacco

Spanish · 1588

Recorded in English from 1588, borrowed via Spanish tabaco, itself likely from a Caribbean language word for a pipe or roll used for smoking.

tobacconist

Origin

From tobacco plus the suffix -ist, denoting a person who deals in or is associated with something.

tobiah

Origin

From the Hebrew name טוֹבִיָּה (Toviyyah, “Yahweh is good”).

Tobias

Hebrew

From Greek Tōbías, from Hebrew toviyá, meaning roughly "my good is the Lord."

Tobin

Irish

From the Irish surname Tóibín, ultimately from a Norman name referencing Saint Aubin.

toboggan

Origin

The noun is attested since 1829, the verb since 1846. Both derive from French tabaganne, which derives from an Algonquian word, probably Mi'kmaq tepaqan or Abenaki dabôgan, influenced by similar words in other Eastern Canadian Algonquian languages. The sense of "hat" is recorded since 1929 and is short for toboggan cap (1928), a cap suitable for wearing while tobogganing.

Tobruk

Arabic

From the Arabic name of the Libyan port city, Ṭubruq.

toby

Middle English

A Middle English pet form of the name Tobias.