Tithing

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Definition

gen. To take the tenth of, to decimate.

• 1. a. trans. To grant or pay one tenth of (one's goods, earnings, etc.), esp. to the support of the church; to pay tithes on (one's goods, lands, etc.). to tithe mint (and anise) and cummin (Matt. xxiii. 23), to be conspicuously scrupulous in minutiæ while neglecting important matters of duty.

b. With the tenth which is paid or delivered as the object: To pay or give as tithe. Also gen., to pledge or contribute as a levy.

• 2. intr. To pay tithe; to pay the tenth, esp. to the church. Revived in recent use in connection with voluntary church giving. Cf. TITHE n.1 1.
• 3. a. trans. To impose the payment of a tenth upon (a person, etc.); to exact tithe from.

b. To exact or collect one tenth from (things|goods]] or produce) by way of tithe; to take tithe of (goods).

c. intr. To levy tithe upon (in quot. transf.).

• 4. a. trans. To take every tenth thing or person from (the whole number); to take one tenth of (the whole); to divide into tenths. Obs.

b. spec. To reduce (a multitude) to one tenth of its numbers by keeping only every tenth man alive. The instances all relate to the sacking of Canterbury by the Danes in 1011, tithe rendering decimare used with this unusual meaning; Higden's words are ‘Grex Christi decimatur, novem scilicet occisis et decimo reservato’.

c. To reduce the number of (a body of soldiers, etc.) by putting to death one in every ten; also rhet. to destroy a large proportion of; = DECIMATE v. 3, 4b. Obs.

d. to tithe out: to take out by lot every tenth (person or thing). Obs.

e. To form the tenth part of (anything). Obs. Hence tithing ppl. a.

Description

A tithe (from Old English teogoþa "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a religious organization. Today, tithes (or tithing) are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes could be paid in kind, such as agricultural products. Several European countries operate a formal process linked to the tax system allowing some churches to assess tithes. "Tithing" also has unrelated economic and juridical senses, dating back to the Early Middle Ages.[1]