till

Etymology 1

From Middle English til, from Northern Old English til, from or akin to Old Norse til (“to, till”); both from Proto-Germanic *til (“to, toward”), from Proto-Germanic *tilą (“planned point in time”). Not a shortening of until; rather, until comes from till with the prefix un- (“against; toward; up to”) also found in unto. Cognate with Old Frisian til (“to, till”), Danish til (“to”), Swedish till (“to, till”), Icelandic til (“to, till”). Also related to Old English til (“good”), German Ziel (“goal”), Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌻 (til, “something fitting or suitable”).

prep

1. Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
   She stayed till the very end.
   It's twenty till two. (1:40)
   I have to work till eight o'clock tonight.
   Similar sentiments will recur to everyone familiar with his writings all through them till the very end. 1854, Prof. John Wilson, The Genius and Character of Burns, page 194
   The line was authorised on June 23, 1864, but not opened till July 11, 1881. 1946 May and June, G. A. Sekon, “L.B.S.C.R. West Coast Section—3”, in Railway Magazine, page 148
   While the PA has not always seen eye-to-eye with US foreign policy, its survival remained, till recently, a top American priority. 2019-3-14, Ramzy Baroud, “Chasing mirages: What are Palestinians doing to combat ‘Deal of the Century’?”, in Ma'an News, archived from the original on 2019-03-30
2. (obsolete, dialect) To, up to (physically).
   They led him till his tent
   She, poor bird, as all forlorn / Lean'd her breast up-till a thorn / And there sung the dolefull'st ditty, / To to hear it was great pity. 1599, William Shakespeare (attributed), The Passionate Pilgrim
   And till the kirk she wadna gae, / nor till't she wadna ride, / Till four-and-twenty men she gat her before, / And twenty on ilka side 1806, “Lord Wa'Yates and Auld Ingram”, in Robert Jameson, editor, Popular Ballads and Songs, volume 2
   For a king to gang an outlaw till / Is beneath his state and his dignitie. 1838, “The Outlaw Murray”, in Walter Scott, editor, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border
3. (obsolete, dialect) To, toward (in attitude).
   And then she changed her voice and would be as saft as honey: 'My puir wee Ailie, was I thrawn till ye? Never mind, my bonnie. You and me are a' that's left, and we maunna be ill to ither.' 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
4. (dialectal) To make it possible that.
   1953?, Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot VLADIMIR: Together again at last! We'll have to celebrate this. But how? (He reflects.) Get up till I embrace you.

conj

1. Until, until the time that.
   Maybe you can, maybe you can't: you won't know till you try.
   She twirled round and round, / Till she sunk underground, […] 1846, Edward Lear, The Book of Nonsense
   And the Mouse sat and laughed till he cried. 1912, anonymous, Punky Dunk and the Mouse, P.F. Volland & Co.

Etymology 2

From Middle English tylle (“till”), possibly from Middle English tillen (“to draw”) from Old English *tyllan (“to draw, attract”) (as in betyllan (“to lure, decoy”) and fortyllan (“to draw away”); related to *tollian > Middle English tollen). Cognate with Albanian ndjell (“I lure, attract”). Alternatively, Middle English tylle is from Anglo-Norman tylle (“compartment”), from Old French tille (“compartment, shelter on a ship”), from Old Norse þilja (“plank”).

noun

1. A cash register.
2. A removable box within a cash register containing the money.
   Pull all the tills and lock them in the safe.
   That said, and I'll put this down to its newness, the bin lid was a bit snappy, like Arkwright's till (google that it you're a youngster). July 26 2023, Pip Dunn, “Merseyrail '777s' are OK for commuters”, in RAIL, number 988, page 59
3. The contents of a cash register, for example at the beginning or end of the day or of a cashier's shift.
   My count of my till was 30 dollars short.
4. A cash drawer in a bank, used by a teller.
5. (obsolete) A tray or drawer in a chest.

Etymology 3

From Middle English tilyen, from Old English tilian.

verb

1. (transitive) To develop so as to improve or prepare for usage; to cultivate (said of knowledge, virtue, mind etc.).
2. (transitive) To work or cultivate or plough (soil); to prepare for growing vegetation and crops.
3. (intransitive) To cultivate soil.
4. (obsolete) To prepare; to get.
   Nor knowes a trappe nor snare to till 1614, William Browne, The Shepherd's Pipe

Etymology 4

Unknown, but possibly via etymology 3 (the verb) because alluvial deposit is used as a fertilizer.

noun

1. glacial drift consisting of a mixture of clay, sand, pebbles and boulders
2. (dialect) manure or other material used to fertilize land

Etymology 5

From Middle English tylle; shortened from lentile (English lentil).

noun

1. A vetch; a tare.