tithe

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A tenth part of one's annual income contributed voluntarily or due as a tax, especially for the support of the clergy or church.
2. n. The institution or obligation of paying tithes.
3. n. A tax or assessment of one tenth.
4. n. A tenth part.
5. n. A very small part.
6. v. To contribute or pay a tenth part of (one's annual income).
7. v. To levy a tithe on.
8. v. To pay a tithe.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Tenth.
2. n. A tenth; the tenth part of anything; hence, any indefinitely small part.
3. n. A contribution or tax for some public use, either voluntary or enforced, of one tenth of the quantity or of the value of the subject from or on account of which it is paid; hence, any ratable tax payable in kind or by commutation of its value in money. The levying of tithes in kind on natural productions or the proceeds of industry was generally practised in ancient times, for both civil and ecclesiastical uses; and this is still the prevalent method of taxation for all purposes in Mohammedan countries. It was established and definitely regulated for the support of religion among the Hebrews; and it was revived for the support of the Christian church by a law of Charlemagne about the beginning of the ninth century, after some previous fluctuating use of it. Ecclesiastical tithes were always more or less oppressive and unequal in their incidence, and they have been generally abolished except in Great Britain, where they are still maintained, mainly in the shape of commuted rent-charges upon land. As there recognized, tithe is defined as the tenth part of the increase annually arising from the profits of land and stock and the personal industry of the inhabitants, allotted for the maintenance of the clergy or priesthood, for their support, and other church purposes. Under the ancient Jewish law, tithes of all produce, including flocks and cattle, were to be given to the Levite, and of this tithe or tenth a tenth was to be given to the priests. In modern ecclesiastical usage, tithes are divided into personal, predial, and mixed: personal, when accruing from labor, art, trade, and manufacture; predial, when issuing directly from the earth, as hay, wood, grain, and fruit; and mixed, when accruing from beasts which are fed from the ground. Another division of tithes is into great and small. Great tithes consist of all species of corn and grain, hay and wood; small tithes, of predial tithes of other kinds, together with mixed and personal tithes. In England great tithes belong to the rector, and are hence called parsonage or rectorial tithes; and the others are due to the vicar, and are hence called vicarage tithes. (See altarage, 2.) In England tithes are now often impropriated to laymen, ecclesiastical corporations, etc. Several acts of Parliament have been passed for the commutation of tithes in England and Ireland, the usual form being the conversion of tithes into a rent-charge called the tithe rent-charge, payable in money, and chargeable on the land. In regard to tithes in Scotland, see teind.
4. n. A tax assessed by the vestry of a parish.
5. To subject to tithes or the payment of a tithe; impose a tithe or tenth of or upon.
6. To pay tithes on; give or yield up a tithe of.
7. To take or reckon by tenths or tens; take tithe or every tenth of.
8. To pay tithes.
9. To concede; grant.

Wiktionary

1. n. archaic A tenth.
2. n. The tenth part of the increase arising from the profits of land and stock, allotted to the clergy for their support, as in England, or devoted to religious or charitable uses. Almost all the tithes of England and Wales are commuted by law into rent charges. Concept originates in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).
3. n. A contribution to one's religious community or congregation of worship.
4. n. A small part or proportion.
5. adj. archaic Tenth.
6. v. transitive  To collect a tithe.
7. v. intransitive To pay a tithe.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A tenth; the tenth part of anything; specifically, the tenthpart of the increase arising from the profits of land and stock, allotted to the clergy for their support, as in England, or devoted to religious or charitable uses. Almost all the tithes of England and Wales are commuted by law into rent charges.
2. n. Hence, a small part or proportion.
3. adj. obsolete Tenth.
4. v. To levy a tenth part on; to tax to the amount of a tenth; to pay tithes on.
5. v. rare Tp pay tithes.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an offering of a tenth part of some personal income
2. v. pay one tenth of; pay tithes on, especially to the church
3. v. pay a tenth of one's income, especially to the church
4. v. exact a tithe from
5. v. levy a tithe on (produce or a crop)
6. n. a levy of one tenth of something