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Glite Dictionary
💰 Giving a tenth 👥 A group of ten
tithing

tithing

9.9
A group of ten nearby homes responsible for each other's behavior
  • noun
  • /ˈtaɪðɪŋ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : diezmo
  • In medieval England, each village operated through a system of tithing, grouping ten households for local governance.

Examples

  • Once the law ended, tithing ended also.

    Blog text (6)

  • Michell never became wholly exempt from its duties as a tithing of the Hundred of Pydar, despite its separate representation at the Eyre.

    Blog text (31)

  • Over every one of these tithings or decennaries, there was a chief called a tithingman or burgh-holder, who had the power to call a court and to try small offenses.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Every tithing was responsible for maintaining peace and order in their community during the medieval period in England.

  • Historically, a tithing consisted of ten households that formed a local administrative unit in England.

Surface Forms

tithing singular
tithings plural

Morphology

tithing = tithe (opaque) = tithe + ing

Although the form is historically connected with 'tithe' and the idea of ten households, the medieval administrative sense is specialized and not compositionally recoverable for most learners.

Etymology

Tithing was originally the name for a group of ten households in medieval England. It comes from the idea of 'tenth', like ten, so a tithing was a small unit of ten homes that shared responsibility for each other.