till¹

[til] /tɪl/

preposition

up to the time of; until:

to fight till death.

before (used in negative constructions):

He did not come till today.

near or at a specified time:

till evening.

Chiefly Midland, Southern, and Western U.S. before; to:

It's ten till four on my watch.

Scot. and North England.

to.
unto.

conjunction

to the time that or when; until.

before (used in negative constructions).

Origin

before 900; Middle English; Old English (north) til < Old Norse til to, akin to Old English till station, German Ziel goal. See till²

Usage note

Till¹ and until are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions: It rained till (or until) nearly midnight. The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till) the rains began. Till is not a shortened form of until and is not spelled 'till. 'Til is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising: Open 'til ten.

till²

[til] /tɪl/

verb (used with object)

to labor, as by plowing or harrowing, upon (land) for the raising of crops; cultivate.

to plow.

verb (used without object)

to cultivate the soil.

Origin

before 900; Middle English tilen, Old English tilian to strive after, get, till; cognate with Dutch telen to breed, cultivate, German zielen to aim at

Related forms

mistilled, adjective

untilled, adjective

untilling, adjective

well-tilled, adjective

till³

[til] /tɪl/

noun

a drawer, box, or the like, as in a shop or bank, in which money is kept.

a drawer, tray, or the like, as in a cabinet or chest, for keeping valuables.

an arrangement of drawers or pigeonholes, as on a desk top.

Origin

1425-75; late Middle English tylle, noun use of tylle to draw, Old English -tyllan (in fortyllan to seduce); akin to Latin dolus trick, Greek dólos bait (for fish), any cunning contrivance, treachery

till⁴

[til] /tɪl/

noun

Geology. glacial drift consisting of an unassorted mixture of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders.

a stiff clay.

Origin

1665-75; origin uncertain

Examples from the web for till

On the other sit the farmers who used to till the land until they were evicted.
Unfortunately, a recipe that is bringing fame-and cash in the till-can't be patented.
Of course land and natural resource economists recognize that there is only so much land to till, or ore in the mine.
Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue till successful candidates are selected.
But you walk on, till you see a group of friendly faces.
His only consolation was that he had helped postpone it till now.
Design a lampshade with a secret bloom that stays hidden till you switch on the light.
If it takes you a little longer learning how to beat eggs in your mom's kitchen, mom works with you till you get it.
till a civic campaign last year changed driving habits, its fine roads gave it an appalling safety record.
And finding the money has till now been a key impediment.

British Dictionary definitions for till

till¹

/tɪl/

conjunction, preposition

Also (not standard) 'til short for until

(Scot) to; towards

(dialect) in order that: come here till I tell you

Usage note

Till is a variant of until that is acceptable at all levels of language. Until is, however, often preferred at the beginning of a sentence in formal writing: until his behaviour improves, he cannot become a member

Word Origin

Old English til; related to Old Norse til to, Old High German zil goal, aim

till²

/tɪl/

verb (transitive)

to cultivate and work (land) for the raising of crops

another word for plough

Derived Forms

tillable, adjective
tiller, noun

Word Origin

Old English tilian to try, obtain; related to Old Frisian tilia to obtain, Old Saxon tilōn to obtain, Old High German zilōn to hasten towards

till³

/tɪl/

noun

a box, case, or drawer into which the money taken from customers is put, now usually part of a cash register

Word Origin

C15 tylle, of obscure origin

till⁴

/tɪl/

noun

an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of rock fragments of various sizes. The most common is boulder clay

Word Origin

C17: of unknown origin

Word Origin and History for till

prep.

"until," Old English til (Northumbrian), from Old Norse til "to, until," from Proto-Germanic *tilan (cf. Danish til, Old Frisian til "to, till," Gothic tils "convenient," German Ziel "limit, end, goal"). A common preposition in Scandinavian, probably originally the accusative case of a noun now lost except for Icelandic tili "scope," the noun used to express aim, direction, purpose (e.g. aldrtili "death," literally "end of life"). Also cf. German Ziel "end, limit, point aimed at, goal," and compare till (v.).

"cultivate (land)" (early 13c.), "plow" (late 14c.), from Old English tilian "tend, work at, get by labor," originally "strive after," related to till "fixed point, goal," and til "good, suitable," from Proto-Germanic *tilojanan (cf. Old Frisian tilia "to get, cultivate," Old Saxon tilian "to obtain," Middle Dutch, Dutch telen "to breed, raise, cultivate, cause," Old High German zilon "to strive," German zielen "to aim, strive"), from source of till (prep.). Related: Tilled; tilling.

"cashbox," mid-15c., from Anglo-French tylle "compartment," Old French tille "compartment, shelter on a ship," probably from Old Norse þilja "plank, floorboard," from Proto-Germanic *theljon. The other theory is that the word is from Middle English tillen "to draw," from Old English -tyllan (see toll (v.)), with a sense evolution as in drawer (see draw).

till in Science

till

(tĭl)
An unstratified, unconsolidated mass of boulders, pebbles, sand, and mud deposited by the movement or melting of a glacier. The size and shape of the sediments that constitute till vary widely.

Slang definitions & phrases for till

till

Related Terms

with one's hand in the till

Idioms and Phrases with till

till

In addition to the subsequent idioms beginning with

till

also see: