tiller

¹

[ til-er ]

noun

1. a person who tills; farmer.
2. a person or thing that tills; cultivator.

tiller

²

[ til-er ]

noun

, Nautical.

1. a bar or lever fitted to the head of a rudder, for turning the rudder in steering.

tiller

³

[ til-er ]

noun

1. a plant shoot that springs from the root or bottom of the original stalk.
2. a sapling.

verb (used without object)

1. (of a plant) to put forth new shoots from the root or around the bottom of the original stalk.

tiller

¹

/ ˈtɪlə /

noun

1. nautical a handle fixed to the top of a rudderpost to serve as a lever in steering it

tiller

²

/ ˈtɪlə /

noun

1. a shoot that arises from the base of the stem in grasses
2. a less common name for sapling

verb

1. intr (of a plant) to produce tillers

Derived Forms

• ˈtillerless, adjective

Other Words From

• tiller·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tiller¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tiller(e), tiliere; till ², -er ¹

Origin of tiller²

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English teler, telor, tiler(e) “the stock of a crossbow or firearm; tiller (for a boat),” from Old French telier, teiler “weaver's beam,” from Medieval Latin tēlārium, equivalent to Latin tēl(a) “cloth being woven on a loom; loom; plan, design” + -ārium -ary

Origin of tiller³

First recorded before 1000; Old English telgor, tealgor “twig, shoot,” (not recorded in Middle English ); akin to Old English telga “branch, bough,” Old Norse tjalga “twig, branch,” Dutch telg

Word History and Origins

Origin of tiller¹

C14: from Anglo-French teiler beam of a loom, from Medieval Latin tēlārium, from Latin tēla web

Origin of tiller²

Old English telgor twig; related to Icelandic tjalga branch

Example Sentences

"The Welsh government's hand was on the tiller and they should have made sure that this had been dealt with much more effectively and much more swiftly."

From BBC

What’s also universal, however, in these years of global trauma, is the need to address what ails us, and it’s this perspective that informs Wilson’s approach — the same one that imbued grace to her previous documentaries “After Tiller,” about abortion doctors, and “The Departure,” about a turmoil-ridden monk.

From Los Angeles Times

Clarity about adaptogens’ efficacy is further muddled due to the fact that most research on these ingredients comes from animal or in-vitro studies that Nicholas B. Tiller, a senior researcher at the Institute of Respiratory Medicine & Exercise Physiology, noted in an email “are not necessarily applicable to the real world.”

From Los Angeles Times

That is what happened to his dear friend, the late-term abortion specialist George Tiller, who was murdered in his Wichita, Kan., church by a Christian extremist in 2009.

From Los Angeles Times

I bumped into Hern at the Denver airport when we were both en route to Tiller’s funeral.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher