What does tithed mean?
Tithed is the past tense and past participle of tithe, a word for a tenth part offered or paid as an obligation or contribution. In its main verb use, it describes giving one-tenth of income, harvest, or produce to a church or another recognized recipient, especially in historical religious contexts. As a past-participle adjective, tithed can describe goods or produce subject to such a payment. The word carries a formal and historical tone: it recalls medieval systems in which churches claimed tithes and tithe barns received agricultural produce, rather than the voluntary donations associated with many modern uses. The form is useful when precision matters because it specifically marks a completed act of giving or paying a tenth, not merely an intention to do so. Its meaning can also carry connotations of religious duty, institutional obligation, and the economic weight of customary church support.
To pay or give a tithe, especially a tenth of one's income or produce to a church or another recipient.
"The merchants tithed a portion of their profits to the religious order."
The form serves as both the simple past tense and the past participle of tithe.
Subject to a tithe; having a tithe imposed on or payable from it.
"The barn held tithed produce collected from farms throughout the parish."
The tithe barns of medieval England once filled with the produce owed to churches, preserving an echo of a system that helped sustain medieval religious institutions.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tithed come from?
Tithed is an inflected form of tithe. Tithe comes from Old English tīþa, meaning a tenth part, which was related to tīen, tenth, and ultimately to the Proto-Germanic and Indo-European numerical roots for ten. That same numerical root underlies words including decimal, decade, and decimate.
Related word forms
How tithed is actually used
Tithed is formal and often historical, especially in references to religious obligations, medieval institutions, or customary payments. It can also describe a modern contribution of a tenth, but such use generally sounds literary or deliberately traditional.
Easily confused with tithed
Tithed refers to paying or giving a tenth, whereas tide refers to the regular rise and fall of the sea.