ticking (n.) Look up ticking at Dictionary.com
"cloth covering (usually of strong cotton or linen) for mattresses or pillows," 1640s, from tyke (modern tick) with the same meaning (mid-14c.), probably from Middle Dutch tike, from a West Germanic borrowing of Latin theca "case," from Greek theke "a case, box, cover, sheath" (see theco-).
tickle (v.) Look up tickle at Dictionary.com
early 14c. (intransitive) "to be thrilled or tingling," of uncertain origin, possibly a frequentative form of tick (v.) in its older sense of "to touch." The Old English form was tinclian. Some suggest a metathesis of kittle (Middle English kytyllen), from Dutch kietelen, from a common North Sea Germanic word for "to tickle" (compare Old Norse kitla, Old High German kizzilon, German kitzeln).

Meaning "to excite agreeably" (late 14c.) is a translation of Latin titillare. Meaning "to touch lightly so as to cause a peculiar and uneasy sensation in the nerves" is recorded from late 14c.; that of "to poke or touch so as to excite laughter" is from early 15c.; figurative sense of "to excite, amuse" is attested from 1680s. Related: Tickled; tickling. The noun is recorded from 1801. To tickle (one's) fancy is from 1640s.
tickled (adj.) Look up tickled at Dictionary.com
"pleased, happy," 1580s, past participle adjective from tickle (v.). To be tickled pink is from 1909.
ticklish (adj.) Look up ticklish at Dictionary.com
"easily tickled," 1590s, from tickle + -ish. Literal sense is attested later than the figurative sense "easy to upset" (1580s). An earlier word for this was tickly (1520s). Meaning "difficult to do, dubious, requiring great care" is from 1590s. Related: Ticklishly; ticklishness.
ticky-tacky (n.) Look up ticky-tacky at Dictionary.com
"inferior, cheap material," 1962 (in song "Little Boxes" by U.S. political folk-singer Malvina Reynolds, 1900-1978), reduplication of tacky. As an adjective by 1967.
Ticonderoga Look up Ticonderoga at Dictionary.com
place in New York state, from Mohawk (Iroquoian) tekotaro:ke "branching (or confluence) of waters," with -otar- "large river, lake."
tidal (adj.) Look up tidal at Dictionary.com
1807, a hybrid formation from tide (n.) + Latin-derived suffix -al (1). A tidal wave (1819) properly is high water caused by movements of the tides; erroneous use for "tsunami, great ocean wave caused by an earthquake, etc." is recorded from 1868.
tidbit (n.) Look up tidbit at Dictionary.com
1630s, probably from dialectal tid "fond, solicitous, tender" (perhaps by influence of tit (n.2)) + bit (n.1) "morsel."
tiddlywinks (n.) Look up tiddlywinks at Dictionary.com
children's tile-flipping game, 1857, probably an arbitrary formation from baby talk, but perhaps from slang tiddly-wink "unlicensed drink shop" (1844), from slang tiddly "a drink, drunk."
tide (n.) Look up tide at Dictionary.com
Old English tid "point or portion of time, due time, period, season; feast-day, canonical hour," from Proto-Germanic *tidiz "division of time" (cognates: Old Saxon tid, Dutch tijd, Old High German zit, German Zeit "time"), from PIE *di-ti- "division, division of time," suffixed form of root *da- "to divide, cut up" (cognates: Sanskrit dati "cuts, divides;" Greek demos "people, land," perhaps literally "division of society," daiesthai "to divide;" Old Irish dam "troop, company").

Meaning "rise and fall of the sea" (mid-14c.) probably is via notion of "fixed time," specifically "time of high water;" either a native evolution or from Middle Low German getide (compare Middle Dutch tijd, Dutch tij, German Gezeiten "flood tide, tide of the sea"). Old English seems to have had no specific word for this, using flod and ebba to refer to the rise and fall. Old English heahtid "high tide" meant "festival, high day."
tide (v.) Look up tide at Dictionary.com
"to carry (as the tide does)," 1620s, from tide (n.). Usually with over. Earlier it meant "to happen" (Old English; see tidings). Related: Tided; tiding.
tidewater (n.) Look up tidewater at Dictionary.com
also tide-water, 1772, "water affected by the normal ebb and flow of the tide," from tide (n.) + water (n.1). In reference to the lowland regions of the Virginia shore of the western Chesapeake Bay, 1832.
tidings (n.) Look up tidings at Dictionary.com
"announcement of an event," c. 1200, from late Old English tidung "event, occurrence, piece of news," verbal noun from Old English tidan "to happen," or in part from Old Norse tiðendi (plural) "events, news," from tiðr (adj.) "occurring," from PIE *di-ti- (see tide (n.)). Similar formation in Norwegian tidende "tidings, news," Dutch tijding, German Zeitung "newspaper."
tidy (v.) Look up tidy at Dictionary.com
"to make neat, set in order," 1821, from tidy (adj.). Related: Tidied; tidying.
tidy (adj.) Look up tidy at Dictionary.com
mid-13c., "in good condition, healthy," probably originally "in season, timely, opportune, excellent" (though this sense is not attested until mid-14c.), from tide (n.) in the sense of "season, time" + -y (2). Of persons, "of neat and orderly habits," from 1706. Similar formation in Old High German zitig, German zeitig, Dutch tijdig, Danish tidig "timely," Old English tidlic "temporal," also "timely, seasonable."
tie (n.) Look up tie at Dictionary.com
Old English teag, "cord, band, thong, fetter," literally "that with which anything is tied," from Proto-Germanic *taugo (cognates: Old Norse taug "tie," tygill "string"), from PIE *deuk- "to pull, to lead" (cognates: Old English teon "to draw, pull, drag;" see duke (n.)).

Figurative sense is recorded from 1550s. Sense of "cravat, necktie" (usually a simple one knotted in front) first recorded 1761. The railway sense of "cross-beam between and beneath rails to keep them in place" is from 1857, American English. Meaning "equality between competitors" is first found 1670s, from notion of a connecting link. Tie-breaker is recorded from 1938.
tie (v.) Look up tie at Dictionary.com
Old English tigan, tiegan "to tie, bind, join, connect," from the source of tie (n.). Meaning "to finish equal to a competitor" is from 1888. Related: Tied; tying. To tie the knot in the figurative sense "form a union" is from 1707. Tie one on "get drunk" is recorded from 1944.
tie-dye (v.) Look up tie-dye at Dictionary.com
1904, from tie (v.) + dye (v.) in reference to the method. Related: Tie-dyed.
tie-in (n.) Look up tie-in at Dictionary.com
"connection," 1934, from verbal phrase (attested by 1793), from tie (v.) + in (adv.).
tier (n.) Look up tier at Dictionary.com
"row, rank, range," mid-15c., from Middle French tire, from Old French tire (13c.) "rank, sequence, order, kind," also "likeness, image; state, condition," probably from tirer "to draw, draw out" (see tirade).
tierce (n.) Look up tierce at Dictionary.com
old unit of liquid measure equal to one-third of a pipe (42 gallons), 1530s, from Anglo-French ters, Old French tierce (11c.). used in the sense "one-third" in various ways, from Latin tertia, fem. of tertius "a third," from PIE *tri-tyo-, from root *trei- (see three). Also used in Middle English for "a third part" (late 15c.), "the third hour of the canonical day" (ending at 9 a.m.), late 14c., and, in astronomy and geometry, "sixtieth part of a second of an arc."
tiff (n.) Look up tiff at Dictionary.com
1727, "outburst of temper," later "petty quarrel" (1754), of uncertain origin; OED suggests imitative, "from the sound of a slight puff of air or gas."
tiffany (n.) Look up tiffany at Dictionary.com
"type of thin, transparent fabric," c. 1600; earlier a common name for the festival of the Epiphany (early 14c.; in Anglo-French from late 13c.), from Old French Tifinie, Tiphanie "Epiphany" (c. 1200), from Late Latin Theophania "Theophany," another name for the Epiphany, from Greek theophania "the manifestation of a god" (see theophany).

Also popular in Old French and Middle English as a name given to girls born on Epiphany Day. The fabric sense is found only in English and is of obscure origin and uncertain relation to the other meanings, unless "holiday silk" or as a fanciful or playful allusion to "manifestation:"
The invention of that fine silke, Tiffanie, Sarcenet, and Cypres, which instead of apparell to cover and hide, shew women naked through them. [Holland's "Pliny," 1601]
The fashionable N.Y. jewelry firm Tiffany & Co. (1895) is named for its founder, goldsmith Charles L. Tiffany (1812-1902) and his son, Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1933), who was the art nouveau decorator noted for his glassware. The surname is attested in English from 1206.
tig (n.) Look up tig at Dictionary.com
child's game, 1816, earlier tick (1620s), variant of tag (n.2).
tiger (n.) Look up tiger at Dictionary.com
Old English tigras (plural), also in part from Old French tigre "tiger" (mid-12c.), both from Latin tigris "tiger," from Greek tigris, possibly from an Iranian source akin to Old Persian tigra- "sharp, pointed," Avestan tighri- "arrow," in reference to its springing on its prey, "but no application of either word, or any derivative, to the tiger is known in Zend." [OED]. Of tiger-like persons from c. 1500. The meaning "shriek or howl at the end of a cheer" is recorded from 1845, American English, and is variously explained. Tiger's-eye "yellowish-brown quartz" is recorded from 1886.
tight (adj.) Look up tight at Dictionary.com
c. 1400, tyght "dense, close, compact," from Middle English thight, from Old Norse þettr "watertight, close in texture, solid," and also from Old English -þiht (compare second element in meteþiht "stout from eating"), both from Proto-Germanic *thinhta- (cognates: Middle High German dihte "dense, thick," German dicht "dense, tight," Old High German gidigan, German gediegen "genuine, solid, worthy"), from PIE root *tenk- (2) "to become firm, curdle, thicken" (cognates: Irish techt "curdled, coagulated," Lithuanian tankus "close, tight," Persian tang "tight," Sanskrit tanakti "draws together, contracts").

tighten (v.) Look up tighten at Dictionary.com
"to make tight," 1727; the earlier verb was simply tight, from Old English tyhtan, from the root of tight. Related: Tightened; tightening.
tightrope (n.) Look up tightrope at Dictionary.com
1801, from tight (adj.) + rope (n.). So called for being tensely stretched.
tights (n.) Look up tights at Dictionary.com
1827, "tight-fitting breeches," from tight. Meaning "skin-tights worn by dancers, acrobats, etc." is attested from 1836.
tightwad (n.) Look up tightwad at Dictionary.com
"parsimonious person," 1900, from tight in the figurative sense of "close-fisted" (1805) + wad (n.). The notions of stringency and avarice also combine in Modern Greek sphiktos "greedy," literally "tight."
tigress (n.) Look up tigress at Dictionary.com
1610s, from tiger + -ess.
Tigris Look up Tigris at Dictionary.com
river in Turkey and Iraq, from an Iranian source akin to words for "arrow," probably in reference to the swiftness of its current. Compare Old Persian tigra- "sharp, pointed," Avestan tighri- "arrow."
Tijuana Look up Tijuana at Dictionary.com
from the name of a Diegueño (Yuman) village, written Tiajuan in 1829; deformed by folk-etymology association with Spanish Tia Juana "Aunt Jane."
Tiki (n.) Look up Tiki at Dictionary.com
"large wooden image of the creator-ancestor of Maoris and Polynesians," 1777, from Eastern Polynesian tiki "image." Tiki torch is first recorded 1973.
til Look up til at Dictionary.com
variant of till (prep.) or short for until.
tilapia (n.) Look up tilapia at Dictionary.com
1849, formed in Modern Latin, perhaps from Greek tilon, name of a fish in Aristotle, + apios "distant."
tilde (n.) Look up tilde at Dictionary.com
1864, from Spanish, metathesis of Catalan title, from vernacular form of Medieval Latin titulus "stroke over an abridged word to indicate missing letters," a specialized sense of Latin titulus, literally "inscription, heading" (see title (n.)). The mark itself represents an -n- and was used in Medieval Latin manuscripts in an abridged word over a preceding letter to indicate a missing -n- and save space.
tile (n.) Look up tile at Dictionary.com
tile (v.) Look up tile at Dictionary.com
till (prep.) Look up till at Dictionary.com
"until," Old English til (Northumbrian) "to," from Old Norse til "to, until," from Proto-Germanic *tilan (cognates: Danish til, Old Frisian til "to, till," Gothic tils "convenient," German Ziel "limit, end, goal"). A common preposition in Scandinavian, serving in the place of English to, probably originally the accusative case of a noun now lost except for Icelandic tili "scope," the noun used to express aim, direction, purpose (as in aldrtili "death," literally "end of life"). Also compare German Ziel "end, limit, point aimed at, goal," and till (v.).
till (v.) Look up till at Dictionary.com
"cultivate (land)" early 13c.; "plow," late 14c., from Old English tilian "cultivate, tend, work at, get by labor," originally "strive after, aim at, aspire to," related to till "fixed point, goal," and til "good, useful, suitable," from Proto-Germanic *tilojan (cognates: 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.).

For sense development, compare expression work the land, Old Norse yrkja "work," but especially "cultivate" (and also "to make verses"); Old Church Slavonic delati "work," also "cultivate." Related: Tilled; tilling.
till (n.) Look up till at Dictionary.com
"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 [Klein, Century Dictionary] 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 (v.)).
tillage (n.) Look up tillage at Dictionary.com
late 15c., from till (v.) + -age.
tiller (n.1) Look up tiller at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "stock of a crossbow," from Old French telier "stock of a crossbow" (c. 1200), originally "weaver's beam," from Medieval Latin telarium, from Latin tela "web; loom," from PIE *teks-la-, from root *teks- "to weave" (see texture (n.)). Meaning "bar to turn the rudder of a boat" first recorded 1620s.
tiller (n.2) Look up tiller at Dictionary.com
"one who tills," mid-13c., from till (v.).
tilt (v.1) Look up tilt at Dictionary.com
Old English *tyltan "to be unsteady," from tealt "unsteady," from Proto-Germanic *taltaz (cognates: Old Norse tyllast "to trip," Swedish tulta "to waddle," Norwegian tylta "to walk on tip-toe," Middle Dutch touteren "to swing"). Meaning "to cause to lean, tip, slope" (1590s) is from sense of "push or fall over." Intransitive sense "to lean, tip" first recorded 1620s. Related: Tilted; tilting.
tilt (n.1) Look up tilt at Dictionary.com
"a joust, a combat," 1510s, perhaps from tilt (v.1) on the notion of "to lean" into an attack, but the word originally seems to have been the name of the barrier which separated the combatants, which suggests connection with tilt in an earlier meaning "covering of coarse cloth, an awning" (mid-15c.). This is perhaps from tilt (v.1), or related to or influenced by tent. Watkins derives it from Old English teld "awning, tent," related to beteldan "to cover," from Proto-Germanic *teldam "thing spread out." Hence, also full tilt (c. 1600). Pinball machine sense is from 1934.
tilt (n.2) Look up tilt at Dictionary.com
"condition of being tilted," 1837, from tilt (v.1).
tilt (v.2) Look up tilt at Dictionary.com
"to joust," 1590s, from tilt (n.1). Related: Tilted; tilting. The figurative sense of tilting at windmills is suggested in English by 1798; the image is from Don Quixote, who mistook them for giants.
So saying, and heartily recommending himself to his lady Dulcinea, whom he implored to succour him in this emergency, bracing on his target, and setting his lance in the rest, he put his Rozinante to full speed, and assaulting the nearest windmill, thrust it into one of the sails, which was drove about by the wind with so much fury, that the lance was shivered to pieces, and both knight and steed whirled aloft, and overthrown in very bad plight upon the plain. [Smollett translation, 1755]
tilth (n.) Look up tilth at Dictionary.com
"labor, work" (especially in agriculture), Old English tilþ "labor, husbandry," from tilian "to till" (see till (v.)) + -th (2).