Tithingmen

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term referring to individuals responsible for collecting tithes or offerings from a congregation for religious purposes
2. Describing persons designated to gather charitable contributions, typically within a church or religious community
3. Referring to those entrusted with the task of receiving a portion of income or goods, often to support religious institutions or services

Etymology: "Tithingman" is a compound of "tithing" and "man," and the two parts carry the word's history. A tithing was a group of ten households in Anglo-Saxon England, bound together so that each member answered for the others' conduct, and its tithingman was the officer who led it. The sense of tithing as a tenth part of produce owed to the Church came later, so the older meaning concerns neighbourhood policing rather than church collection. The word "tithingmen" is simply the plural of "tithingman," so it names several such officers at once. The modern gloss about collecting offerings from a congregation reflects a narrower, churchly use that grew out of the Old English word, rather than its original sense.