tath

T1A1T1H4

noun

The dung of livestock left on a field to serve as manure or fertiliser.

OriginMiddle English tath ← Old Norse tað ← Proto-Germanic *tadą →
Scrabble 7
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Meanings

tath1

nountath (countable and uncountable, plural taths)

plural taths · alternative teathe · alternative tathe

  1. ScotlandUKarchaiccountabledialectalhistoricaluncountableagricultureThe dung of livestock left on a field to serve as manure or fertiliser.

    after the sheep have trod out a great quantity of stones, in feeding off turnips, to have them raked up clean, which I have known some farmers do, nor can the rake be used without taking some of the tathe, or dung, with them .

    1804, Arthur Young, The Farmer's Calendar
  2. ScotlandUKarchaiccountabledialectalhistoricaluncountableagricultureA piece of ground dunged by livestock.
  3. ScotlandUKarchaiccountabledialectalhistoricaluncountableagricultureStrong grass growing around the dung of kine.

tath2

verbtath (third-person singular simple present taths, present participle tathing, simple past and past participle tathed)

present singular third person taths · participle present tathing · participle past tathed · past tathed · alternative teathe · alternative tathe

  1. ScotlandUKarchaicdialectalhistoricalagricultureTo manure (land) by pasturing cattle on it.

    I would have no more ploughed than has been tathed the preceding year

    1808, Agricultural Surveys: Inverness

Origin

tath · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dāy-“to divide, split, part, section”
  2. Proto-Germanic*tadą“manure”
  3. Old Norsetað“manure”
  4. Middle Englishtath
  5. Englishtath

From Middle English tath, from Old Norse tað (“manure”), from Proto-Germanic *tadą (“manure”), from Proto-Indo-European *dāy- (“to divide, split, part, section”). Cognate with Icelandic tað (“manure, dung”), dialectal Swedish tad (“manure, dung”).

More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic

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tath · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dāy-“to divide, split, part, section”
  2. Proto-Germanic*tadjaną“to strew, scatter”
  3. Old Norseteðja“to manure”
  4. Middle Englishtathen
  5. Englishtath

From Middle English tathen, from Old Norse teðja (“to manure”), from Proto-Germanic *tadjaną (“to strew, scatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *dāy- (“to divide, split, part, section”). Cognate with Icelandic teðja (“to dung, manure”), Norwegian tedja (“to dung”), German zetten (“to let fall in small pieces, let crumble”).

More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic

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Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

thathatt
Cite this entry
APA

tath. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tath

MLA

“tath.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tath. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tath,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tath.

Source: tath on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.