Etymology : Middle English, from Old English tigele, from Latin tegula tile; akin to Latin tegere to cover; more at THATCH
Pronunciation : tI(&)l
Function : noun
Date : before 12th century
1. slab of fired clay for covering roofs or lining walls or floors. pave, cover with tiles. tile\tile\ , v. t. [see:
2d tiler.] to protect from the intrusion of the uninitiated; as, to tile a masonic lodge.tile \tile\, n. [oe. tile, tigel, as. tigel, tigol, fr. l. tegula, from tegere to cover. see:
thatch, and cf. tegular.].
2. a plate, or thin piece, of baked clay, used for covering the roofs of buildings, for floors, for drains, and often for ornamental mantel works.
3. (arch.) (a) a small slab of marble or other material used for flooring. (b) a plate of metal used for roofing.
4. (metal.) a small, flat piece of dried earth or earthenware, used to cover vessels in which metals are fused.
5. a draintile.
6. a stiff hat. [colloq.]tile drain, a drain made of tiles.tile earth, a species of strong, clayey earth; stiff and stubborn land. [prov. eng.]tile kiln, a kiln in which tiles are burnt; a tilery.tile ore (min.), an earthy variety of cuprite.tile red, light red like the color of tiles or bricks.tile tea, a kind of hard, flat brick tea. see:
brick tea, under brick.tile \tile\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. tiled ; p. pr. & vb. n. tiling.].
7. to cover with tiles; as, to tile a house.
8. fig.: to cover, as if with tiles. the muscle, sinew, and vein, which tile this house, will come again.tile n.
9. a flat thin rectangular slab (as of fired clay or rubber or linoleum) used to cover surfaces.
10. a thin flat slab of fired clay used for roofing [syn: roofing tile ] cover with tiles, of surfaces in a dwelling; "tile the wall and the floor of the bathroom".
11. To protect from the intrusion of the uninitiated; as, to tile a Masonic lodge.
12. A plate, or thin piece, of baked clay, used for covering the roofs of buildings, for floors, for drains, and often for ornamental mantel works.
13. A small slab of marble or other material used for flooring.
14. A plate of metal used for roofing.
15. A small, flat piece of dried earth or earthenware, used to cover vessels in which metals are fused.
16. A draintile.
17. A stiff hat.
18. To cover with tiles; as, to tile a house.
19. Fig.: To cover, as if with tiles. a flat thin rectangular slab used to cover surfaces a thin flat slab of fired clay used for roofing cover with tiles; "tile the wall and the floor of the bathroom".
20. 1. Tiles are flat, square pieces of baked clay, carpet, cork, or other substance, which are fixed as a covering onto a floor or wall. Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor The cabins had linoleum tile floors.
21. Tiles are flat pieces of baked clay which are used for covering roofs. a fine building, with a neat little porch and ornamental tiles on the roof.
22. When someone tiles a surface such as a roof or floor, they cover it with tiles. He wants to tile the bathroom see also:
tiling. to cover a roof, floor etc with tiles. Thin, flat slab or block used structurally or decoratively in building. Tiles traditionally have been made of glazed or unglazed fired clay, but modern tiles are also made of plastic, glass, asphalt, and even cork. Ceramic tiles, used for walls, floors, and countertops, are usually machine-pressed, made of fine clays, and very hard. Quarry tiles (used for flooring) and terra-cotta, made of natural clays, are less hard and more porous but very popular for economic and aesthetic reasons. Structural tile, made of fired clay, is a hollow tile containing parallel cells or cores and is used for building partitions. Roof tiles of baked clay and of marble were used in ancient Greece. Tiles came to be widely used in Islamic architecture. Multicoloured, glazed tiles were common in Spain from an early period (see:
azulejo), and from there spread to Portugal and Latin America. By the 15th century, tilework was used widely in northern Europe; blue-painted tiles from Delft, Holland, were especially renowned. Modern clay roofing tiles may be flat or curved; in the Mediterranean countries, S-shaped tiles (pantiles), laid with alternate convex and concave surfaces uppermost, are common. Modern wall tiles may be highly glazed and semivitreous.