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tiller

noun, verb — 12 senses

tiller

noun

UK /ˈtɪlə/ · US /ˈtɪlɚ/

Etymology From Middle English tilier; equivalent to till + -er.

1

A person who tills; a farmer.

  • In France, Europe's most fertile and cultivated land, the tillers of it suffered more and more hunger.2000, Alasdair Gray, The Book of Prefaces, Bloomsbury, published 2002, page 63:
2

A machine that mechanically tills the soil.

Synonyms
cultivator
Derived terms
power tiller, Tiller, tiller-beam, Tillerson, tiller yoke
Related terms
motor plow

tiller

verb

Etymology From Middle English telȝre, telgra, from Old English telgor, telgra, telgre ("twig, branch, shoot") (also telga, telge (whence tillow)), from Proto-West Germanic *telguʀ, from Proto-Germanic *telguz (“twig, branch”), from Proto-Indo-European *delgʰ- (“to split, divide, cut, carve”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tälge (“sapling”), Dutch telg (“descendant, scion, offshoot, shoot”), Dutch Low Saxon telge (“twig, branch”), German Zelge (“twig, branch, bough”), Swedish telning (“branch, scion, sapling”), Icelandic tág (“willow-twig”).

1

To produce new shoots from the root or from around the bottom of the original stalk; stool.

tiller

noun

Etymology From Middle English telȝre, telgra, from Old English telgor, telgra, telgre ("twig, branch, shoot") (also telga, telge (whence tillow)), from Proto-West Germanic *telguʀ, from Proto-Germanic *telguz (“twig, branch”), from Proto-Indo-European *delgʰ- (“to split, divide, cut, carve”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tälge (“sapling”), Dutch telg (“descendant, scion, offshoot, shoot”), Dutch Low Saxon telge (“twig, branch”), German Zelge (“twig, branch, bough”), Swedish telning (“branch, scion, sapling”), Icelandic tág (“willow-twig”).

1

Obsolete A young tree.

  • first you must provide you of a Ladder to ascend the top of your Pit : this they usually make of a curved Tiller fit to apply to the convex shape of the heap1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC:
2

A shoot of a plant which springs from the root or bottom of the original stalk; a sapling; a sucker.

tiller

noun

Etymology From Middle English teler, from Anglo-Norman telier (“beam used in weaving”), from Medieval Latin telarium, from Latin tēla (“web”).

7 senses
  1. 1The stock; a beam on a crossbow carved to fit the arrow…
  2. 2A bar of iron or wood connected with the rudderhead and…
  3. 3The handle of the rudder which the helmsman holds to…
  4. 4A steering wheel, usually mounted on the lower portion…
  5. 5A handle; a stalk.
  6. 6The rear-wheel steering control, aboard a tiller truck.
  7. 7A small drawer; a till.
1

Archery, Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Sports, War The stock; a beam on a crossbow carved to fit the arrow, or the point of balance in a longbow.

  • You can shoot in a tiller.c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Philaster: Or, Love Lies a Bleeding”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii:
2

Nautical, Transport A bar of iron or wood connected with the rudderhead and leadline, usually forward, in which the rudder is moved as desired by the tiller (FM 55-501).

3

Nautical, Transport The handle of the rudder which the helmsman holds to steer the boat, a piece of wood or metal extending forward from the rudder over or through the transom. Generally attached at the top of the rudder.

4

Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Broadly A steering wheel, usually mounted on the lower portion of the captain's control column, which is used to steer the aircraft's nosewheel or tailwheel to provide steering during taxi.

5

A handle; a stalk.

6

The rear-wheel steering control, aboard a tiller truck.

7

UK, Dialectal, Obsolete A small drawer; a till.

  • But search her cabinet, and thou shalt find Each tiller there with love-epistles lin'd1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Sixth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
Derived terms
even hand at the tiller, even hand on the tiller, firm hand at the tiller, firm hand on the tiller, steady hand on the tiller, strong hand at the tiller, strong hand on the tiller, sure hand at the tiller, sure hand on the tiller, tiller extension, tillerless, tillerman, tiller truck

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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