tithing

Tithing \Tith"ing\, n. [AS. te['o]?ung.]
   1. The act of levying or taking tithes; that which is taken
      as tithe; a tithe.
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            To take tithing of their blood and sweat. --Motley.
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   2. (O. Eng. Law) A number or company of ten householders who,
      dwelling near each other, were sureties or frankpledges to
      the king for the good behavior of each other; a decennary.
      --Blackstone.
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Tithe \Tithe\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tithed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Tithing}.] [As. te['o]?ian.]
   To levy a tenth part on; to tax to the amount of a tenth; to
   pay tithes on.
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         Ye tithe mint and rue.                   --Luke xi. 42.
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TITHING, Eng. law. Formerly a district containing ten men with their 
families. In each tithing there was a tithing man whose duty it was to keep 
the peace, as a constable now is bound to do. St. Armand, in his Historical 
Essay on the Legislative Power of England, p. 70, expresses, an opinion that 
the tithing was composed not of ten common families, but of ten families of 
lords of a manor.