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Till vs Towards - What's the difference?

till | towards |

As a proper noun till

is .

As a preposition towards is

variant of toward.

As an adverb towards is

(obsolete) in the direction of something (indicated by context).

As an adjective towards is

(obsolete) near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.

till

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (Northumbrian) til, from (etyl) til.

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • To.
  • *, Bk.XVIII, Ch.vii:
  • *:Than the knyghtes parters of the lystis toke up Sir Madore and led hym tylle hys tente.
  • *1854 , Prof. John Wilson, The Genius and Character of Burns , p.194 (Google preview):
  • *:Similar sentiments will recur to everyone familiar with his writings all through them till the very end.
  • Until, up to, as late as (a given time).
  • :
  • :
    • Synonyms
    * (until) til, 'til, until

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • until, until the time that
    • Maybe you can, maybe you can't: you won't know till you try.
  • * 1582 , 2:7:
    • that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please.
  • * 1846 , Edward Lear, The Book of Nonsense :
    • She twirled round and round, / Till she sunk underground,
  • * 1912 , anonymous, Punky Dunk and the Mouse , P.F. Volland & Co.:
    • And the Mouse sat and laughed till he cried.
    Synonyms
    * (until) 'til, until

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) tillen'' "to draw" from (etyl) ''-tyllan'' (as in ''betyllan'' "to lure, decoy," and ''fortyllan'' "draw away;" related to ''tollian ). Cognate with Albanian . Or alternatively from (etyl) tylle'' "compartment" from (etyl) ''tille'' "compartment, shelter on a ship" from (etyl) '' "plank."

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A cash register
  • A removable box within a cash register containing the money
    • Pull all the tills and lock them in the safe.
  • The contents of a cash register, for example at the beginning or end of the day or of a cashier's shift
    • My count of my till was 30 dollars short.
  • (obsolete) A tray or drawer in a chest.

    • Etymology 3

    (etyl) tilian

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to develop so as to improve or prepare for usage; to cultivate (said of knowledge, virtue, mind etc)
  • to work or cultivate or plough (soil); to prepare for growing vegetation and crops
  • * Bible, Genesis iii. 23
    • The Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
  • to cultivate soil
  • (obsolete) To prepare; to get.
    • Quotations
    * (English Citations of "till")

    Etymology 4

    Unknown, but possibly via etymology 3 (the verb) because alluvial deposit is used as a fertilizer.

    Noun

    (wikipedia till) (en noun)
  • glacial drift consisting of a mixture of clay, sand, pebbles and boulders
  • (dialect) manure or other material used to fertilize land

    • Etymology 5

    Shortened from lentil.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A vetch; a tare.

    • References

    * *

    References

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    towards

    English

    Preposition

    (en-prep) (mainly in British English )
  • Variant of toward.
  • * 1835 , Sir , Sir (James Clark Ross), Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1 , pp.284-5
    • Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Everton 0-2 Liverpool , passage=But with Goodison Park openly directing its full hostility towards Atkinson, Liverpool went ahead when Carroll turned in his first Premier League goal of the season after 70 minutes.}}

    Synonyms

    * toward

    Usage notes

    * Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words (term) and (towards), the difference is merely dialectal. (term) is the most common form, while (toward) tends to appear only in American English.

    See also

    * See

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) In the direction of something (indicated by context).
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.iv:
    • Thus as he spake, lo far away they spyde / A varlet running towards hastily [...].

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.
  • * Shakespeare
    • We have a trifling foolish banquet / Towards .

    Statistics

    * English prepositions