TIT - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

TITAuthored

The Law Mind • 709 words

Definition

In legal usage, "tit" appears primarily as an abbreviation for TITLE, used extensively in older English legal texts, digests, and treatises to direct the reader to a particular subject heading within a work. The form "tit." (with a period indicating abbreviation) is the standard scholarly shorthand, equivalent to modern usage of "s.v." (sub verbo) or a topical cross-reference.

Secondary usage: In some older English legal and ecclesiastical texts, "tit" appears as an informal abbreviation for TITHE, though this usage is rare and typically context-dependent.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A light blow or hit, now preserved almost exclusively in the fixed phrase "tit for tat."

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A small horse; a woman (used in contempt); a morsel or bit; any of numerous species of small singing birds (titmouse and related families).

None of the common meanings — bird, small horse, light blow — bear any relationship to the legal abbreviation. A researcher encountering "tit." in a legal digest, index, or footnote should read it as an abbreviation for "title" (the subject heading), not as a standalone word.

Common Confusion

The primary confusion in legal research is misreading "tit." as a word rather than as an abbreviation. In Burrill and similar 19th-century dictionaries and treatises, references such as "tit. Assault" or "tit. Trover" point the reader to the relevant subject heading within a digest or encyclopedia. Researchers unfamiliar with this convention may overlook the reference entirely or fail to locate the source being cited. Separately, "tit." should not be confused with "tit." as an abbreviation for "titulus" (Latin for title or heading) in ecclesiastical law, which carries distinct doctrinal weight in canon law contexts.

Why It Matters in Research

The Law Mind corpus contains substantial 19th-century English legal literature — treatises, digests, and commentaries — in which "tit." functions as a routine navigational shorthand. Burrill's own dictionary uses it to direct readers elsewhere within his own work and to other standard authorities. Researchers working through historical footnotes and cross-references must recognize this abbreviation instantly to follow the citation chain.

Two traps are common. First, digitized versions of older texts may not render the abbreviating period clearly, making "tit" appear as a freestanding word rather than an abbreviation. Second, in earlier English digests organized by subject heading — such as Viner's Abridgement or Comyns' Digest — the subject titles are the primary organizational unit, so "tit." references are the functional equivalent of chapter or section citations. Missing this means missing the cited authority altogether.

The fragment preserved in Burrill's source material — referencing "the tenths of the produce" alongside Stiles and John Doe — suggests tit. was appearing in a context bridging tithes, common-law illustrations, and digest cross-references, all of which are heavily represented elsewhere in the Law Mind corpus.

Historical Dictionary Support

Burrill's Law Dictionary does not treat "tit" as a substantive legal term but uses it in its abbreviating function. The fragments in the source material show Burrill deploying standard cross-referencing practice: directing readers to related entries using "tit." as shorthand, consistent with the conventions of English legal digests from the 17th through 19th centuries.

Older English legal dictionaries — Jacob's Law Dictionary, Tomlin's Law Dictionary — similarly treat "tit." as purely abbreviatory, not as a term of art. None of the major historical legal dictionaries assign independent legal meaning to "tit" as a standalone term. Where the historical sources are silent on form and meaning, modern researchers should default to reading "tit." as "title" (subject heading) unless context strongly suggests a tithe reference.

Jurisdictional Note

The abbreviation "tit." as a digest cross-reference is primarily an English legal convention, carried into American legal literature through the 19th century. It is less common in American legal writing after roughly 1900, when section and paragraph numbering replaced subject-heading organization in most standard reference works.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

See Law Mind Encyclopedia — Title (for the organizational and documentary uses of title as subject heading and as property concept); Tithes (for the ecclesiastical and agricultural law context in which "tit." occasionally referred to tithe-related subject headings).

TITmain

Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1870

(530) Hale's Hist. Com. Law, 4. 2 Bl. Com. 31. The expression "time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary" properly refers to the period anterior to the reign of Richard I. and is so explained by Mr. Serjeant Stephen in his New Commentaries. 1 Steph. Com. 45. See Time of memory, Time out of memory. (531) be the "tenths of the produce of the Stiles," or "John Doe" of the old English ground, or of personal industry." 1 Crabb's Real Prop. ub. sup. Prædial tithes are such as arise immediately from the ground; as grain of all sorts, hay, wood, fruits, and herbs. Id. ibid. Mixed tithes are such as do not arise immediately from the ground, but from things nourished by the ground; as calves, lambs, chickens, colts, milk, cheese, and eggs. Id. ibid. Personal tithes are such as arise by the industry of man, being the tenth part of the clear gain, after charges deducted. Id. ibid. See 2 Chitt. Bl. Com. 24, note. Tithes are now commuted into a rent charge, the amount of which is annually adjusted according to the average price of corn, [grain.] 1 Crabb's R. Prop. 161, et seq. Wharton's Lex. books, and the " A. B." of modern treatises. Si in chartis membranisve tuis carmen vel historiam vel orationem Titius scripserit, hujus corporis non Titius sed tu dominus esse videris; if Titius shall have written a poem, or a history, or an oration upon your papers or parchments, you and not Titius will be deemed the owner of the corpus, i. e. the poem, &c. so written. Inst. 2. 1. 33. Titius filius hæres mihi esto; let Titius my son be my heir. Id. 2. 16, pr. Dig. 28. 5. 1, 2, 3. Titius (or Ticius) is also sometimes used by Bracton, in his illustrations. Ticius alienam plantam in solo suo posuit; ipsius erit planta. Titius has set another man's plant in his ground; the plant shall be his. Bract. fol. 10. Si Titius consul factus fuerit; if Titius shall be made consul. Id. fol. 99 b. But these are obvious quotations from the civil law. Occasionally the name is employed in illustrating the practice of the English courts. Titius de tali loco, et socii sui justitiarii itinerantes in tali comitatu; Titius of such a place, and his com-

TITn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A small horse. Tusser. A woman; -- used in contempt. Burton. A morsel; a bit. Halliwell. Any one of numerous species of small singing birds belonging to the families Paridæ and Leiotrichidæ; a titmouse. The European meadow pipit; a titlark. Ground tit. (Zoöl.) See Wren tit, under Wren.  -- Hill tit (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of Asiatic singing birds belonging to Siva, Milna, and allied genera.  -- Tit babbler (Zoöl.), any one of several species of small East Indian and Asiatic timaline birds of the genus Trichastoma.  -- Tit for tat. Etym: [Probably for tip for tap. See Tip a slight blow.] An equivalent; retaliation.  -- Tit thrush (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of Asiatic and Esat Indian birds belonging to Suthora and allied genera. In some respects they are intermediate between the thrushes and titmice.

titnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

A light blow or hit (now usually in the phrase tit for tat).

titverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To strike lightly, tap, pat. | To taunt, to reproach.

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