What does tiding mean?
Tiding is a literary and now somewhat archaic noun meaning a piece of news or information. In ordinary contemporary use, English speakers usually encounter its plural form, tidings, especially in the fixed expression good tidings, which means welcome or reassuring news. The singular remains understandable, but outside historical writing, poetry, or deliberately elevated language it sounds old-fashioned. Tidings also appears in less cheerful expressions such as evil tidings, meaning bad news. A tiding can be a message, announcement, or report, although modern speakers are more likely to use news, report, or announcement. The word is worth knowing because it preserves both the literal sense of communicated information and the familiar social language of greeting, celebration, and reassurance. Its archaic flavor can give an ordinary expression a ceremonial or nostalgic quality, while good tidings remains fully idiomatic in both British and American English.
nounA piece of news or information. The word is now chiefly literary or archaic and is usually encountered in its plural form.
- A piece of news or information; now chiefly literary, archaic, or deliberately elevated in style.
"A herald arrived with a tiding that the king had survived the battle."
"A herald arrived with a tiding that the king had survived the battle."
"The letter was a tiding from her long-separated brother."
The usual plural form of tiding, especially familiar in the set phrase good tidings, where it denotes news as a whole rather than a countable item.
"The couriers arrived with tidings of peace."
The singular sounds old-fashioned, but the expression good tidings keeps this word firmly in modern English.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tiding come from?
Tiding descends from Old English tīding, a Germanic noun for news or an announcement, and continued in Middle English as tiding. Its cognates include Old Norse tiðendi, Middle Dutch tijdinge, Dutch tijding, and German Tidung, all associated with news or information. The modern plural tidings is the form most often preserved in English, especially in established expressions such as good tidings.
Related word forms
How tiding is actually used
Chiefly literary, formal, or archaic now; the singular is uncommon in everyday English and can sound intentionally old-fashioned.
Easily confused with tiding
A tide is the periodic rise and fall of the sea, whereas a tiding is a piece of news or information.