great tithes

Great \Great\ (gr[=a]t), a. [Compar. {Greater}; superl.
   {Greatest}.] [OE. gret, great, AS. gre['a]t; akin to OS. &
   LG. gr[=o]t, D. groot, OHG. gr[=o]z, G. gross. Cf. {Groat}
   the coin.]
   1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous;
      expanded; -- opposed to {small} and {little}; as, a great
      house, ship, farm, plain, distance, length.
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   2. Large in number; numerous; as, a great company, multitude,
      series, etc.
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   3. Long continued; lengthened in duration; prolonged in time;
      as, a great while; a great interval.
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   4. Superior; admirable; commanding; -- applied to thoughts,
      actions, and feelings.
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   5. Endowed with extraordinary powers; uncommonly gifted; able
      to accomplish vast results; strong; powerful; mighty;
      noble; as, a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher,
      etc.
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   6. Holding a chief position; elevated: lofty: eminent;
      distinguished; foremost; principal; as, great men; the
      great seal; the great marshal, etc.
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            He doth object I am too great of birth. --Shak.
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   7. Entitled to earnest consideration; weighty; important; as,
      a great argument, truth, or principle.
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   8. Pregnant; big (with young).
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            The ewes great with young.            --Ps. lxxviii.
                                                  71.
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   9. More than ordinary in degree; very considerable in degree;
      as, to use great caution; to be in great pain.
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            We have all
            Great cause to give great thanks.     --Shak.
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   10. (Genealogy) Older, younger, or more remote, by single
       generation; -- often used before grand to indicate one
       degree more remote in the direct line of descent; as,
       great-grandfather (a grandfather's or a grandmother's
       father), great-grandson, etc.
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   {Great bear} (Astron.), the constellation Ursa Major.

   {Great cattle} (Law), all manner of cattle except sheep and
      yearlings. --Wharton.

   {Great charter} (Eng. Hist.), Magna Charta.

   {Great circle of a sphere}, a circle the plane of which
      passes through the center of the sphere.

   {Great circle sailing}, the process or art of conducting a
      ship on a great circle of the globe or on the shortest arc
      between two places.

   {Great go}, the final examination for a degree at the
      University of Oxford, England; -- called also {greats}.
      --T. Hughes.

   {Great guns}. (Naut.) See under Gun.

   {The Great Lakes} the large fresh-water lakes (Lakes
      Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) which lie on
      the northern borders of the United States.

   {Great master}. Same as {Grand master}, under {Grand}.

   {Great organ} (Mus.), the largest and loudest of the three
      parts of a grand organ (the others being the choir organ
      and the swell, and sometimes the pedal organ or foot
      keys), It is played upon by a separate keyboard, which has
      the middle position.

   {The great powers} (of Europe), in modern diplomacy, Great
      Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy.

   {Great primer}. See under {Type}.

   {Great scale} (Mus.), the complete scale; -- employed to
      designate the entire series of musical sounds from lowest
      to highest.

   {Great sea}, the Mediterranean sea. In Chaucer both the Black
      and the Mediterranean seas are so called.

   {Great seal}.
       (a) The principal seal of a kingdom or state.
       (b) In Great Britain, the lord chancellor (who is
           custodian of this seal); also, his office.

   {Great tithes}. See under Tithes.

   {The great}, the eminent, distinguished, or powerful.

   {The Great Spirit}, among the North American Indians, their
      chief or principal deity.

   {To be great} (with one), to be intimate or familiar (with
      him). --Bacon.
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Tithe \Tithe\, n. [OE. tithe, tethe, properly an adj., tenth,
   AS. te['o]?a the tenth; akin to ti['e]n, t?n, t[=e]n, ten, G.
   zehnte, adj., tenth, n., a tithe, Icel. t[imac]und the tenth;
   tithe, Goth. ta['i]hunda tenth. See {Ten}, and cf. {Tenth},
   {Teind}.]
   1. A tenth; the tenth part of anything; specifically, the
      tenthpart of the increase arising from the profits of land
      and stock, allotted to the clergy for their support, as in
      England, or devoted to religious or charitable uses.
      Almost all the tithes of England and Wales are commuted by
      law into rent charges.
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            The tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil.
                                                  --Neh. xiii.
                                                  5.
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   Note: Tithes are called personal when accuring from labor,
         art, trade, and navigation; predial, when issuing from
         the earth, as hay, wood, and fruit; and mixed, when
         accuring from beaste fed from the ground. --Blackstone.
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   2. Hence, a small part or proportion. --Bacon.
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   {Great tithes}, tithes of corn, hay, and wood.

   {Mixed tithes}, tithes of wool, milk, pigs, etc.

   {Small tithes}, personal and mixed tithes.

   {Tithe commissioner}, one of a board of officers appointed by
      the government for arranging propositions for commuting,
      or compounding for, tithes. [Eng.] --Simmonds.
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