till

Meanings

1. 1
   prep

   Up to the time of; until.

   She stayed at the party till the very end.

2. 2
   conj

   Up to the moment when; until.

   You won't know if you can do it till you try.

3. 3
   noun

   A machine or drawer in a shop that holds money and records sales.

   The cashier rang up the items and closed the till.

4. 4
   verb

   To prepare land for growing crops by digging or ploughing it.

   The farmers till the soil every spring before planting.

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 (“to 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”).

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