▪ I. tilly, n.1
(ˈtɪlɪ)
Also 8 tilli, tyle.
[app. a. F. tilli, ad. med.L. tiglium, in It. tiglia: cf. tiglic.]
In tilly-seed, the seed of a species of Croton (formerly called C. Pavana, now identified with C. Tiglium), which yields Croton oil.
| 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 144 The smooth Fruit call'd in the Shops, Tyle Seed, or Tilli-Berries [orig. Ricinus arbre à fruit lisse, nommé grain de Tilli]. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Tilly-seed, a small tree, the Croton Pavana of Hamilton,..the seeds of which have the same properties as those of the Croton Tiglium. |
▪ II. tilly, n.2
(ˈtɪlɪ)
[f. Ir. tuilleadh an additional quantity, a supplement.]
In Ireland and places of Irish settlement, an additional article or amount unpaid for by the purchaser, as a gift from the vendor.
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 15 She poured again a measureful and a tilly. 1958 M. & P. Colum Our Friend James Joyce ii. ii. 120 As the price of the little volume [sc. Pomes Penyeach] was a shilling, one expected to find twelve poems in it, one for each penny. Actually there were thirteen, the additional one being named ‘Tilly’. In this Joyce was being obscurely local: the extra half-cup of milk that the milkman left in the Dublin householder's jug in the morning was a ‘tilly’—something unpaid for. 1975 Canadian Antiques Collector Mar.–Apr. 22/2 [In Newfoundland] we have still in common use such Anglo-Irish terms as:..tilly (a small amount over and above what is purchased). |
▪ III. tilly, a.
(ˈtɪlɪ)
[f. till n.2 + -y.]
Abounding in, or of the nature of, till or tenacious clay.
| 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 14 Houses composed of this mortar or tilly clay. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 227 Stiff stubborn tilly land. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm I. 169 Clay, and tilly clay even more than the unctuous, retains a great deal of water. |