tile 
2. A similar slab or plate of pottery, glazed 
and often decorated, used for ornamental pave- 
ments, revetments to walls, etc.; also, a like 
slab of porcelain, glazed and plain or decorated; 
Modern Work in Figured Tiles as applied to a Fireplace. 
an encaustic tile ; also, a slab of stone or mar- 
ble used with others like It in a pavement or re- 
vetment. In the middle ages such tiles of stone were 
frequently incised with elaborate designs, the incisions 
being filled with lead or a colored composition, or occa- 
sionally incrusted in mosaic. 
3. In metal., a small flat piece of dried earth or 
earthenware used to cover vessels in which met- 
als are fused. 4. A section of pipe of earthen- 
ware, glazed or unglazed. The sections are either 
made so that one end of every piece enters a socket formed 
on the contiguous end of the next, or they are joined by 
being merely placed in apposition and the junction cov- 
ered with narrow curved strips of earthenware made for 
the purpose and set in cement. Another form, now less 
used, consists of arch-shaped tiles which are laid so as to 
rest on flat tiles forming the bottom. 
5. Tiles of any kind collectively ; tiling; con- 
struction of tiles. 
Much of their tile wherewith they cover their Churches 
and houses is made of woodde. Coryat, Crudities, I. 79. 
There, busie Kil-men ply their occupations 
For brick and tyle : there for their firm foundations 
They dig to hell. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii. , Babylon. 
6. A tall stiff hat ; a silk hat : humorously com- 
pared to a section of pipe (hence also called 
storepipe). [Slang.] 
A stalwart old Baron, who, acting as henchman 
To one of our early Kings, kill'd a big Frenchman ; 
A feat which his Majesty deigning to smile on 
Allow'd him thenceforward to stand with his tile on. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 69. 
His damaged tile was in permanent crape for the late 
lamented Poole. T. Winthrop, Love and Skates. 
Alhambra tiles, enameled and painted tiles for archi- 
tectural ornament, of similar character to those abundant 
in the palace of the Alhambra that is, forming when 
assembled geometrical and interlaced patterns, the pat- 
tern being large in scale, and requiring many separate 
pieces to make up one unit of the design. Compart- 
ment tiles. See compartment. Drain-tiles, tiles 
forming a pipe, or made in the form of an arch and laid 
upon flat tiles (called soles), used to form drains, the 
smaller sewers, etc. See def. 4. Dutch tile, a tile of 
enameled earthenware, painted usually in blue, but some- 
times in other colors, generally with scriptural sub- 
jects, and used for wall-decoration, for lining fireplaces, 
etc. These tiles were originally made in the Nether- 
lands about the time of the Renaissance, but the type has 
since been reproduced in other countries. Encaustic 
tile, a wall- or flooring-tile, made by pressing a die upon 
the clay, filling the depression thus formed with vitrifl- 
able color, or with clay of another color, and then burn- 
ing to fix the color and design. Such tiles are sometimes 
enameled. The most common so-called encaustic floor- 
tiles are unglazed and in small pieces in plain colors, the 
designs being formed by putting tiles of different shapes 
and colors together. The name is arbitrary, and without 
exact reference to the process of manufacture, and is also 
given to glazed porcelain tiles bearing fired designs in 
vitriflable colors. See also under encaustic. Pan-tile 
See paiMe. Plain tile, a roofing-tile in the form of a 
simple parallelogram, usually about 10J by 6i inches, and 
i inch thick; a crown-tile. Every tile" is pierced at one 
end with two holes, through which are passed the wooden 
pins which secure it to the lath. E. II. Knight. Ridge- 
tile. Same as crown-tile, 2. (See also crest-til?, crmm- 
tUe, hip-tOe.) 
tile 1 (til), v. t. pret. and pp. tiled, ppr. tiling. 
[Formerly also tyle; < ME. tilen, tylen ; < fo'fci, 
.] To cover or roof with tiles. 
6336 
At last she saw a fair tyl'd house, 
And there she swore by the rood 
That she would to that fair tijl'd house, 
There for to get her some food. 
The West-Country Damosel's Complaint (Chilli's Ballads, 
[II. 385). 
tile' J (til), v. t. ; pret. and pp! tiled, ppr. tiling. 
[A back-formation, < tiler, 4, the same as tiler, 
1, 'one who tiles or makes tiles,' but assumed, 
because the tiler stands at the closed door, to 
mean 'one who closes the door': see tiler.] 
1 . In freemason ry, to guard against the entrance 
of the uninitiated by placing the tiler at the 
closed door : as, to tile a lodge ; to tile a meeting. 
Hence 2. To bind to keep what is said or 
done in strict secrecy. 
" Upon my word, Madam," I had begun, and was going 
on to say that I didn't know one word about all these mat- 
ters which seemed so to interest Mrs. Major Ponto, when 
the Major, giving me a tread or stamp with his large foot 
under the table, said, "Come, come, Snob, my boy, we are 
all tiled, you know." Thackeray, Book of Snobs, xxv. 
tile 3 (til), n. Same as til-tree. 
tile-copper (til'kop'er), . In metal., a product 
of the smelting of ores of copper which are 
contaminated to a considerable extent by the 
presence of other metals, especially tin. The 
mixture of regulus and copper alloy obtained'in treatment 
of the so-called fine metal is run into molds ; in these the 
regulus separates from the copper, which falls to the bot- 
tom, and for this reason is called bottoms ; it is then de- 
tached from the regulus by blows of a hammer, is roasted, 
refined, and cast into rectangular plates or tiles, and sold 
under the name of tile-copper. 
tile-creasing (tirkre'sing), n. In arch., two 
rows of plain tiles placed horizontally under 
the coping of a wall, and projecting about 1| 
inches over each side to throw off the rain- 
water. Also called creasing. 
tile-drain (til'dran), . In agri., a drain con- 
structed of tiles. 
tile-earth (tU'erth), n. A strong clayey earth ; 
stiff, stubborn land. [Prov. Eng.] 
tile-field (tll'feld), n. Ground on which tiles 
are made: as, the palace of the Tuileries in 
Paris was so named from standing on what was 
once a tile-field. 
tile-fish (til'fish), n. 1. A fish of the family La- 
tilidse, specifically Lojrfiolatihvscliantseleonticeps. 
Tile-fish (Lopholatilus fhanialfontiftfs). 
This is a fine large fish of brilliant coloration, at one time 
abundant in deep water off the coast of New England. It 
was discovered in 1879, and then found to exist in great 
numbers, but was almost or quite exterminated in March, 
1882. It has an adipose crest on the back of the head, 
recalling the crest of a chameleon. The average weight 
is about 10 pounds, but 50 pounds is sometimes attained. 
The flesh is excellent. The name tile-fish, given by the 
discoverers, Goode and Bean (1879), is a pun on the ge- 
neric word Lopholatiltts, suggested by the appearance of 
tile-painting which this handsome fish presents. 
2. The family Latilidse. 
tile-kiln (til'kil), n. A kiln for baking tiles. 
tile-machine (til'ma-shen"), n. A machine used 
for making hollow drain-pipes or tiles. It con- 
sists essentially of a pug-mill for mixing the clay, a screw 
for forcing the tempered clay through the dod or mold, 
and a device for cutting the resulting continuous cylin- 
der Into lengths. 
tile-ore (til'or), n. An earthy brick-red to 
black variety of native cuprous oxid, or cuprite. 
tile-oven (tal'uv'n), . An oven or kiln in 
which tiles are baked. 
tile-pin (tll'pin), n. \ pin, usually of hard 
wood, passing through a hole in a tile into the 
lath, etc., to secure it to the roof. 
tiler (trier), . [Formerly also tyler, < ME. 
"tiler, tyler, tylare ; < C/te 1 + -er 1 . In free- 
masonry tiler is the same word, fancifully used, 
like mason itself, in imitation of such terms as 
literally used in the old mechanic gilds. It is 
commonly written archaically tyler, and erro- 
neously derived < F. tailleur, a cutter or hewer. 
The E. word from F. tailleur is tailor. Hence, 
from tiler, the surname Tiler, more commonly 
spelled Tyler.] 1. A maker of tiles. 
And that the Tylers of the towne compelle not straunge 
tillers to serue at their rule. And that they kepe no par- 
liament ; and that euery tyler marke his tyle. 
English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 374. 
2. One who lays tiles, or whose occupation is 
to cover buildings with tiles. 
Nature therefore has played the tiler, and given it [the 
head] a most curious covering ; or, to speak more proper- 
ly, she has thatched it all over, and that thatching is hair. 
Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, p. 80. 
Tilia 
3. A tile-kiln. 4. In freemasonry, the door- 
keeper of a lodge. Also tyler. Compare tilt-?. 
tile-red (til'red), . and a. A light, somewhat 
brownish red, the color of burnt tiles. This is 
the commonest red tint found in insects, and is, in ento- 
mology, oftenest defined simply by the word red, corre- 
sponding to the Latin rnber. 
tileroot (til'rot), . A plant of the iridaceous 
genus Geissorlnza, both names referring to the 
overlapping scales of the rootstock, which con- 
sist of the bases of dead leaves. The plants of 
the genus are showy-flowered, resembling Ixia. 
tilery (ti'ler-i), n. ; pi. tileries (-iz). [= F. tui- 
lerie, a place where tiles are made ; as tilel + 
-enj.] A factory for tiles; a tile-works. 
tile-seed (til'sed), . A tree of the genus Geis- 
sois of the Saxifragaceee : so named from the 
imbricated seed. There are 4 species, found in 
Australia, New Caledonia, and the Fiji Islands. 
tilestone (til'ston), re. [< ME. tyelstoon, teghel- 
stan; (tile 1 + stone.'] 1 . A tile ; brick. Wyclif. 
2. Any stone suitable for making tiles, or 
which can be used for rooting, but splitting 
into layers too thick to be properly called slate 
(see slate 2 ) ; thin-bedded flagstone. The term tUe- 
stone was applied by Murchison to the Downton sandstones 
and Ledbury shales, which are beds of passage between the 
Silurian and Old Red Sandstone in Wales. 
The term tilestone was subsequently abandoned by Mur- 
chison ; for, although it was in local use in Caermarthen- 
shire and Brecknockshire, yet there is not a stone capable 
of being formed into a tile from the Downton Sandstones 
to the Cornstones of Wall Hills ; but there are thin mud- 
dy marls over the Downton beds, which would have been 
tUestones had they been sufficiently hardened, and which 
are doubtless equivalents of the true tilestones. 
Woodward, Geol. of Eng. and Wales (2d ed.), p. 104. 
tile-tea (til'te), n. Same as brick-tea. 
tile-tree (til'tre), n. Same as til-tree. 
tile-works (til' werks), n. sing, and pi. A place 
where tiles are made ; a tilery. 
tilewrightt (til'rit), . A worker in clay. Solon, 
Old Eng. Potter, p. 59. 
Tilgate stone. [So called from Tilgate Forest 
in Sussex, England.] In geol., the name given 
to beds of calcareous sandstone or ironstone 
occurring near Hastings, England, in the Ash- 
down sand, a subdivision of the Hastings beds, 
by which term the lower section of the Wealden 
series is known to English geologists. The name 
Tilgate atone was also given by Mantell to certain beds of 
calcareous sandstone occurring in the Wadhurst clay 
also a local subdivision of the Ashdown sand, and so named 
from the village of Wadhurst, near Tunbridge Wells. This 
Tilgate stone is noted for its reptilian remains, becoming 
in places a regular bone-bed. See Wealden. 
As pointed out by Mr. Topley, the "Tilgate Stone " of Dr. 
Mantell occurs at different horizons in different localities. 
Woodward, Geol. of Eng. and Wales (2d ed.), p. 360. 
Tilia (til'i-a), H. [ML. (Tournefort, 1700), < L. 
tilia, the linden-tree. Hence ult. E. teil, til- 
let 1 .] A genus of trees, type of the order Tilia- 
ceee and tribe Tiliese. it is characterized by flowers 
with a wing-like bract adnate to the peduncle, followed 
by a globose, indehiscent, one- to two-seeded fruit. There 
are 16 or 17 species, natives of north temperate regions. 
They are trees, usually with obliquely heart-shaped ser- 
rate leaves two-ranked upon the young branches, which 
form a light, Hat spray. The fragrant white or yellowish 
flowers form axillary or terminal cymes, conspicuously 
nectar-bearing, much frequented by bees, and causing the 
production of honey of excellent quality. The peculiar 
light-green, membranous, reticulated bract remains per- 
sistent on the peduncle, and aids in dispersing the fruit, 
a cluster of hard, woody, one-celled ovoid or globose nuts. 
The species are known in general as linden or lime-tree, 
and the American as basswood. (See linden, and compare 
Zindl and basfl ; also figures under serrate and stifrma.) 
They are remarkable for their tough fibrous inner bark, 
used, especially in Russia, to make shoes, cords, nets, and 
coarse cloth, and exported, under the name of Russia 
matting, to be used in packing, tying plants, etc. The 
soft pale wood is much used for interior finish, cabinet- 
work, turneiy, woodenware, and carving, and especially 
in the manufacture of pianos and harps. The leaves are 
given as food to cattle in parts of Europe; the flowers 
yield a distilled oil called lime-jhicer oil, used in perfum- 
ery ; their infusion is a domestic European remedy for 
indigestion and hysteria. The trunk sometimes reaches 
great size, especially in central Europe. The linden of 
J'ribourg, planted in 1476 to commemorate the battle of 
Morat, was in 1830 nearly 14 feet in diameter ; another, 
near Morat, 38 feet in girth, was then estimated to be 864 
years old. Many species are planted as shade-trees, espe- 
cially the three species of western Europe, all sometimes 
included under T. Europxa. Of these, T. mtlgarix, a favor- 
ite avenue tree in Germany for nearly three centuries, is 
the linden commonly planted in Berlin, in England, and 
in the eastern United States. T. nlm\folia (T. cordata and 
T. parmfolia), a small-leaved species, is the common linden 
of northern Europe, and is probably the only one native 
in England. In cultivation it is usually small ; but one at 
Uckermark in Germany reaches nearly 23 feet in girth. T. 
platyphyllos, with yellowish-green leaves and four-ribbed 
fruit common in southern Europe, and parent of most 
of tin- peculiar varieties of cultivation is the linden of 
Versailles and the Tuileries gardens. Three or four species 
are natives of southeastern Europe, of which T. )>etiolarijt 
is remarkable for its pendulous branches and elongated 
leafstalks, and T. anjentea, the silver lime, for its freedom 
