Tithed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A sum of money has been proportionately dedicated to a religious institution or a charitable cause An individual has apportioned a specific fraction of their earnings to benefit a community or spiritual practice Someone has committed a defined portion of their wealth to uphold charitable efforts or support a faith-based organization
2. Contributed one-tenth of one's earnings to support religious or charitable organizations
3. Donated a fixed fraction, usually ten percent, of personal income to a spiritual institution

Etymology: Tithe is one of the few English words that is a doublet of "tenth": the two come from the same Germanic root, *tehunþô, meaning "a tenth," but took different paths into English. "Tenth" kept the ordinary numerical sense, while "tithe" became a specialised word for a tenth of produce or income owed to the church. The form is shared across the family of Germanic languages, where cognates such as Dutch "tiende," German "Zehnt," and Icelandic "tíund" all preserve the same meaning of a tax of one-tenth. "Tithed" is the simple past and past participle of the verb "tithe," which in Middle English was "tithen" or "tythen," from Old English "tēoþian" and "teogoþian," meaning to pay a tenth. The verb therefore describes the act of paying that tenth, so someone who tithed was giving the sum that the older word had always measured.

Synonyms: donated, contributed

Antonyms: withheld