tath

Noun

(plural taths)

(UK dialectal, Scotland) The dung of livestock left on a field to serve as manure or fertiliser.
(UK dialectal, Scotland) A piece of ground dunged by livestock.
(UK dialectal, Scotland) Strong grass growing around the dung of kine.

Origin

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”), Swedish dialectal tad (“manure, dung”).

Verb

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

(UK dialectal, Scotland) To manure (land) by pasturing cattle on it, or causing them to lie upon it.

Origin

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”).