Tills

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A cash register or drawer used for storing money transactions in a retail setting
2. The act of preparing or using soil, often for farming or gardening purposes
3. Enclosures made for planting crops, specifically in agriculture or horticulture

Etymology: The noun "tills" is simply the plural of "till" in the sense of a planting enclosure, and the sense itself is a dated, specialised one. The most useful clue is that the plural is the only form that needs explaining here, since the singular carries the whole history. Its sources are uncertain, and the leading candidates are several separate words that happened to converge. One candidate traces the word to Middle English "tylle", possibly from a verb "tillen" meaning "to draw", ultimately from an Old English verb meaning "to draw, attract". That same root appears in Old English compounds meaning "to lure" and "to draw away", and it is related to an Albanian word meaning "to lure". A second candidate runs through Anglo-Norman "tylle" meaning "compartment", from Old French "tille", which meant a compartment or shelter on a ship, and ultimately from Old Norse "þilja", meaning "plank". A third suggests the word is shortened from "lentile", the old form of "lentil", though this is far less certain.

Synonyms: cash registers, drawers, registers