tillable

US: (til′ə bəl)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

till•a•ble  (til′ə bəl), adj. 

1. Agriculture able to be tilled;
   arable.

• till² + -able 1565–75

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

till¹ /tɪl/   prep. 

1. up to the time of;
   until:
   to fight till death.
2. (used with a negative word or phrase) before;
   until:
   They didn't come till today.
3. Dialect Terms before;
   to:
   My watch says ten till four.

conj. 

4. until:
   Till we meet again, I'll be thinking of you.

till² /tɪl/   v. [~ + object]

1. Agriculture to work on (land), as by plowing, etc., to raise crops;
   cultivate.

till•a•ble, adj. 

till³ /tɪl/   n. [countable]

1. a drawer, box, or the like, in which money is kept, as in a shop.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

till¹  (til), prep. 

1. up to the time of;
   until:
   to fight till death.
2. before (used in negative constructions):
   He did not come till today.
3. near or at a specified time:
   till evening.
4. Dialect Terms [Chiefly Midland, Southern, and Western U.S.] before;
   to:
   It's ten till four on my watch.
5. Scottish Terms
   • to.
   • unto.

conj. 

6. to the time that or when;
   until.
7. before (used in negative constructions).

• Old Norse til to, akin to Old English till station, German Ziel goal. See till²
• bef. 900; Middle English; Old English (north) til

Usage

Till¹ and until are both old in the language and are interchangeable as both prepositions and conjunctions:
It rained till (or until) nearly midnight.
The savannah remained brown and lifeless until (or till) the rains began.
Till is not a shortened form of until and is not spelled 'till. 'Til is usually considered a spelling error, though widely used in advertising:
Open 'til ten.

till² (til),  v.t. 

1. Agriculture to labor, as by plowing or harrowing, upon (land) for the raising of crops;
   cultivate.
2. Agriculture to plow.

v.i. 

3. Agriculture to cultivate the soil.

• bef. 900; Middle English tilen, Old English tilian to strive after, get, till; cognate with Dutch telen to breed, cultivate, German zielen to aim at

till³ (til),  n. 

1. a drawer, box, or the like, as in a shop or bank, in which money is kept.
2. Furniture a drawer, tray, or the like, as in a cabinet or chest, for keeping valuables.
3. Furniture an arrangement of drawers or pigeonholes, as on a desk top.

• 1425–75; late Middle English tylle, noun, nominal use of tylle to draw, Old English -tyllan (in fortyllan to seduce); akin to Latin dolus trick, Greek dólos bait (for fish), any cunning contrivance, treachery

till⁴ (til),  n. 

1. Geology glacial drift consisting of an unassorted mixure of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders.
2. Geology a stiff clay.

• origin, originally uncertain 1665–75