Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In old English law, the chief man of a tithing: same as
headborough . - noun In England, a peace-officer; an under-constable; in early New England hist., a town officer elected each year to exercise a general moral police (derived from the constabulary functions of the English tithing-man) in the town.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (O. Eng. Law) The chief man of a tithing; a headborough; one elected to preside over the tithing.
- noun (Law) A peace officer; an under constable.
- noun Local, U. S. A parish officer elected annually to preserve good order in the church during divine service, to make complaint of any disorderly conduct, and to enforce the observance of the Sabbath.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK, law, obsolete The
chief man of atithing ; aheadborough ; oneelected topreside over the tithing. - noun law A
peace officer ; anunderconstable . - noun US, dialect A
parish officer elected annually to preserve good order in thechurch during divine service, to make complaint of any disorderly conduct, and to enforce theobservance of theSabbath .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"That's proof of it right there," said the tithingman.
Heartfire Card, Orson Scott 1998
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When a couple quarreled, it was a tithingman who went to them to help them iron it out, or to separate them for a time if that was needed.
Heartfire Card, Orson Scott 1998
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When someone was breaking the sumptuary laws, or using coarse language, or otherwise offending against the standards that helped them all stay pure, it was a tithingman who tried, peacefully, to persuade them to mend their ways without the need of dire remedies.
Heartfire Card, Orson Scott 1998
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"There's a witch girl naming other witches," said the tithingman.
Heartfire Card, Orson Scott 1998
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And a man didn't last long as a tithingman in a New England town if he fancied himself to be possessed of some sort of personal authority.
Heartfire Card, Orson Scott 1998
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Besides keeping the boys from playing and the grown people from going to sleep, the tithingman must turn the hourglass.
The Child's World Third Reader Sarah Withers Hetty Browne
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She was very much afraid of the tithingman, who sat on a high seat.
The Child's World Third Reader Sarah Withers Hetty Browne
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When the sand had all run through, the tithingman turned the glass over and the sand began to tell another hour.
The Child's World Third Reader Sarah Withers Hetty Browne
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It is safer to say little of the theological scheme of the Puritan ministers, lest the present writer be pronounced a Wanton Gospeller, and have no tithingman to take his part.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 71, September, 1863 Various
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[Illustration: The tithingman tickling the nodding lady]
The Child's World Third Reader Sarah Withers Hetty Browne
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