Etymograph

English

tath

Tath comes from Old Norse tað ‘manure’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dāy- ‘to divide, split, part, section’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dāy-1‘to divide, split, part, section’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tadą1‘manure’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350tað1‘manure’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tath1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1804tath1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tath
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1804, Arthur Young: “after the sheep have trod out a great quantity…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dāy-Wiktionary, English tath‘to divide, split, part, section’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tadąWiktionary, English tath‘manure’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350taðWiktionary, English tath‘manure’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tathWiktionary, English tath
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1804tathWiktionary, English tath. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1804, Arthur Young: “after the sheep have trod out a great quantity…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *tadą ‘manure’

ted

Today it means

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

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tath”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dāy- / tath

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