Tis

Part of speech: contraction, pronoun

Definitions

1. A contraction for "it is," often used in poetry or archaic language to express existence or observation
2. A colloquial form representing "it is" commonly found in dialect or literary contexts, conveying a statement
3. An abbreviated expression for "it is," typically employed in informal speech or poetic works to affirm or denote something

Etymology: "Tis" is a shortened form of "'tis," which is itself a contraction of "it is," with the "i" of "it" dropped and the apostrophe marking the lost sound. The apostrophe is the whole story here: "tis" is simply "'tis" written without it, so the word is an alternative spelling rather than a separate entry in its own right. Contractions like this were once common in spoken English and remained a staple of verse, where dropping a syllable helped a line keep its beat. That is why the form sounds so literary to modern ears: it survives mostly in poetry, song lyrics and deliberately old-fashioned prose, rather than everyday speech.

Synonyms: it is, it’s, this is, that is