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Origin and history of tile

tile(n.)

"thin slab or plate of baked clay used for covering roofs or paving floors of buildings," early 14c., from Old English tigele "roofing shingle," from Proto-Germanic *tegala, a borrowing from Latin tegula "roof-tile" (source also of Italian tegola, French tuile), a derivative of tegere "to roof, to cover," which, according to Watkins, is from PIE root *(s)teg- "to cover."

Also used in Old English and early Middle English for "brick," before brick (n.) came into use. Germanic cognates, all from Latin, include Old Saxon tiegla, Old High German ziagal, German ziegel, Dutch tegel, Old Norse tigl.

tile(v.)

late 14c., tilen, "cover (a roof) with tiles," from tile (n.). Related: Tiled; tiling. Tiled in place names is attested from early 13c.; Tiler, Tyler as a surname is from late 12c.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to tile

brick(n.)

"rectangular block of artificial stone (usually clay burned in a kiln) used as a building material," early 15c., from Old French briche "brick," which is probably from a Germanic source akin to Middle Dutch bricke "a tile," etymologically "a bit, a fragment, a piece broken off," from the verbal root of break (v.).

Of a brick-shaped loaf by 1735. The meaning "a good, honest fellow" is from 1840, probably on notion of squareness (as in fair and square), though in English brick and square when applied to persons generally are not compliments.

Brick wall in the figurative sense of "impenetrable barrier" is from 1886. Brick-and-mortar (adj.) as figurative of "physically real" is from 1865. To do something like a ton of bricks "vigorously" is from 1929 (earlier thousand of bricks, 1836), probably from the notion of how hard such a weight of them would fall or hit.

tegular(adj.)

"of or like a tile," 1796, from Latin tegula "tile" (see tile (n.)) + -ar. Related: Tegulated. Tegula itself was taken into English 19c. in various technical and scientific senses.

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ceramic
1850, keramic, "of or belonging to pottery," from Greek keramikos, from keramos "potter's earth; tile; earthen vessel, jar...He concludes, "this technical term for tile-making may well be Pre-Greek (or Anatolian)."...
shingle
"thin piece of wood, wooden tile for roofing," also one used as a writing tablet, late Old English scincle, scingul, variants...of scindel, from Late Latin scindula (also the source of German Schindel), from Latin scandula "roof tile," from scindere...
ostracism
ostracisme (16c.), Modern Latin ostracismus, or directly from Greek ostrakismos, from ostrakizein "to ostracize," from ostrakon "tile...So called because the citizens each indicated the name of the man they wished banished by scratching it on a potsherd or tile...
quarrel
sense of "square or diamond-shaped plane of glass" is recorded from mid-15c., from Medieval Latin quadrellus "a square tile...
flint
Danish flint), formerly said to be from a PIE root *(s)plei- "to splice, split" (source also of Greek plinthos "brick, tile...
imbrication
imbrication, noun of action from stem of Latin imbricare "to cover with tiles," from imbricem (nominative imbrex) "curved roof tile...
tessellated
tessellatus "made of small square stones or tiles," past participle of tesselare, from tessella "small square stone or tile...
cover
mid-12c., "protect or defend from harm," from Old French covrir "to cover, protect, conceal, dissemble" (12c., Modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperire "to cover over, overwhelm, bury," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix
man
"a featherless plantigrade biped mammal of the genus Homo" [Century Dictionary], Old English man, mann "human being, person (male or female); brave man, hero;" also "servant, vassal, adult male considered as under the control of another person," from Proto-Germanic *mann- (source
clay
Old English clæg "stiff, sticky earth; clay," from Proto-Germanic *klaijaz (source also of Old High German kliwa "bran," German Kleie, Old Frisian klai, Old Saxon klei, Middle Dutch clei, Danish klæg "clay;" also Old English clæman, Old Norse kleima, Old High German kleiman "to c

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