till

• n. [地理][水文] 冰碛；放钱的抽屉；备用现金
• prep. 直到
• conj. 直到...为止
• vt. 耕种；犁
• vi. 耕种；耕耘
• n. (Till)人名；(法)蒂伊；(匈、德、捷)蒂尔；(英)蒂尔(女子教名Matilda的昵称)

来自古英语 til,朝向，直到，来自 Proto-Germanic*til,朝向，直到，来自 Proto-Germanic*tilan, 努力，终点，目标，可能来自 PIE*do,表方向，朝向，词源同 to.

till

till: English has three distinct words till, but two of them are probably related. The etymological notion underlying till ‘cultivate the soil’ [OE] is of ‘striving to obtain a goal’. Indeed, that is what its Old English ancestor tilian originally meant; ‘cultivate’ is a late Old English development, via an intermediate ‘labour’. The verb comes from a prehistoric Germanic *tilōjan, a derivative of the noun *tilam ‘aim, purpose’ (source of German ziel ‘goal’).

This passed into Old English as till ‘fixed point’, which seems to have been converted into a preposition meaning ‘up to a particular point (originally in space, but soon also in time)’. The compound until dates from the 13th century; its first element was borrowed from Old Norse *und ‘till’. The origins of till ‘money box’ [15] are uncertain.

till (prep.)

"until," Old English til (Northumbrian) "to," from Old Norse til "to, until," from Proto-Germanic *tilan (cognates: Danish til, Old Frisian til "to, till," Gothic tils "convenient," German Ziel "limit, end, goal"). A common preposition in Scandinavian, serving in the place of English to, probably originally the accusative case of a noun now lost except for Icelandic tili "scope," the noun used to express aim, direction, purpose (as in aldrtili "death," literally "end of life"). Also compare German Ziel "end, limit, point aimed at, goal," and till (v.).

till (v.)

"cultivate (land)" early 13c.; "plow," late 14c., from Old English tilian "cultivate, tend, work at, get by labor," originally "strive after, aim at, aspire to," related to till "fixed point, goal," and til "good, useful, suitable," from Proto-Germanic *tilojan (cognates: Old Frisian tilia "to get, cultivate," Old Saxon tilian "to obtain," Middle Dutch, Dutch telen "to breed, raise, cultivate, cause," Old High German zilon "to strive," German zielen "to aim, strive"), from source of till (prep.).

For sense development, compare expression work the land, Old Norse yrkja "work," but especially "cultivate" (and also "to make verses"); Old Church Slavonic delati "work," also "cultivate." Related: Tilled; tilling.

till (n.)

"cashbox," mid-15c., from Anglo-French tylle "compartment," Old French tille "compartment, shelter on a ship," probably from Old Norse þilja "plank, floorboard," from Proto-Germanic *theljon. The other theory [Klein, Century Dictionary] is that the word is from Middle English tillen "to draw," from Old English -tyllan (see toll (v.)), with a sense evolution as in drawer (see draw (v.)).

1. I picked first all the people who usually were left till last.

我先挑出了所有通常留到最后的人。

来自柯林斯例句

2. Lou prattled on about various trivialities till I wanted to scream.

卢就各种芝麻小事唠叨个没完，后来我烦得都想尖叫了。

来自柯林斯例句

3. He checked the register. There was money in the till.

他查看了一下收银机的抽屉，里面有钱。

来自柯林斯例句

4. She'd been working in her room till a noise had disturbed her.

她一直在房间里工作，直到有声响打扰了她。

来自柯林斯例句

5. Alex didn't read fluently till he was nearly seven.

亚历克斯快到7岁时才能流利地阅读。

来自柯林斯例句