Word Confusion: Tilt vs Title vs Tittle

Posted March 22, 2018 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
5 Jan 2023

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It’s just a tittle. I mean title. Or is it tilt? There are too many skinny letters in these words, and it’s too easy to mistype them. Lord knows, I’m always squinting to figure out if the i or the l or the t are in the right places.

It’s also a good reason not to rely on spellcheck, as it doesn’t check context . . . nor does it check to see if a word is archaic and unlikely to be used. Like the time a writer was discussing which tittle he should use on his about-to-be-published book. I suppose he was talking about the dot over his i or j, but somehow, I don’t think so.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Tilt	Title	Tittle
Jousting Renfair, 27 August 2005, by User:Pretzelpawsis is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — It’s a tilt.	Title page of “Household Management” courtesy of Wellcome Images under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	Tittles by User:Superm401 is based on the original by User:CrazyLegsKC, which is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Noun ¹, ²; Verb ¹, intransitive & transitive ² Plural for the noun: tilts Gerund: tilting Third person present verb: tilts Past tense or past participle: tilted Present participle: tilting	Adjective; Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun: title Gerund: titling Third person present verb: titles Past tense or past participle: titled Present participle: titling	Noun Plural: tittle tittles (diacritical marks only)
Noun: A sloping position or movement ¹ An upward or downward pivoting movement of a camera An inclination or bias [Aerial photography] The angle formed by the direction of aim of a camera and a perpendicular to the surface of the earth [Short for tilt hammer] A heavy pivoted hammer used in forging, raised mechanically and allowed to drop on the metal being worked [Historical] A combat for exercise or sport between two men on horseback with lances A joust [tilt at] An attempt at winning (something) or defeating (someone), especially in sports A barrier introduced in the 14th century to prevent jousting collisions A canopy or an awning for a boat, wagon, or cart ² A verbal combat A debate A dispute Verb, intransitive: Move or cause to move into a sloping position or direction ¹ Change or cause to change in favor of one person or thing as opposed to another [Historical; in jousting; tilt at] Thrust at with a lance or other weapon [Archaic; tilt with] Engage in a contest with [Of a camera] To move on its vertical axis To incline in opinion, feeling, etc. Lean Verb, transitive: Move or cause to move into a sloping position ¹ Move (a camera) in a vertical plane To rush at or charge, as in a joust To hold poised for attack, as a lance To forge with a tilt hammer To cover (a vehicle) with a canopy or an awning ²	Adjective: Of or relating to a title That decides a title Noun: The name of a book, composition, or other artistic work [Usually as titles] A caption or credit in a movie or broadcast A book, magazine, or newspaper considered as a publication A name that describes someone’s position or job: A word such as Senator or Dame that is used before someone’s name, or a form that is used instead of someone’s name, to indicate high social or official rank A word such as Mrs. or Dr. that is used before someone’s name to indicate their profession or marital status A descriptive or distinctive name that is earned or chosen The position of being the champion of a major sports competition [Law] A right or claim to the ownership of property or to a rank or throne [In church use] A fixed sphere of work and source of income as a condition for ordination A parish church in Rome under a cardinal Verb, transitive: [Usually be titled] Give a name to a book, composition, or other work To furnish with a title Designate by an appellation Entitle	A tiny amount or part of something Jot Whit Particle Iota [Archaic] A small diacritic mark, such as an accent, vowel mark, or dot over an i or j
Examples:
Noun: It was the tilt of her head that caught Peter’s eye. That coffee cup was on a tilt. This new security camera I got pans and tilts from an app on my phone. The paper’s tilt was toward the conservatives. Watch out for the tilt. It comes down heavy, take your hand right off. Technically, the act of two knights charging each other with lances is a tilt. The tilt is a medieval rehearsal similar to a military exercise in which two riders charge each other with lances. They say there’ll be a tilt this coming May. It was a tilt at the championship. Go for it, dude. Full tilt! Verb, intransitive: The floor tilted slightly. The balance of industrial power tilted towards the workers. He tilts at his prey. The lonely hero tilting at the system. I resolved never to tilt with a French lady in compliment. The camera tilts downward for an overhead shot. She’s tilting toward the other candidate this year. The field tilts toward the river. Verb, transitive: He tilted his head to one side. Tilt the camera up and then pull back. She tilted the bowl towards me, showing that she had indeed eaten all her soup. Johnny had a bad habit of tilting his chair back. Refreshments,” said Bert meditatively, tilting the empty bottle. On the mark, Sir Henry tilted towards his opponent, lowering his lance as he charged. The warriors tilted with their spears and brandished them in the air.	Adjective: It was the title story in a collection. This was the title bout to determine who would be champion. Noun: Do you know the author or the title of the book? We do not create separate new titles for each season of a TV-show. The title page is an important part of the front matter. The company publishes 400 titles a year. Leese assumed the title of director general. He will inherit the title of Duke of Marlborough. You should use his title when you address the envelope. Nata’s deserved the title of Best Restaurant of the Year. Davis won the world title for the first time in 1981. A local family had title to the property. The buyer acquires a good title to the merchandise. To be ordained as a cardinal, the church requires the priest have a title with a proper stipend to support him. Since 1914, the suburbicarian diocese of Ostia has been assigned as an additional title of the Dean of the College of Cardinals. Title IX is a clause in the 1972 Education Act stating that no one shall because of sex be denied the benefits of any educational program of activity that receives direct federal aid. Verb, transitive: I think the song was titled “You Rascal, You”. He originally titled it Home From Mars, but he decided to go with Mars Attacks instead.	The rules have not been altered one jot or tittle since. You know she doesn’t care a tittle what you do. The dot atop an i or j is one example of a tittle. “And what have they to offer thee which are worth the least tittle of that which she would have given thee?” (France).
Derivatives:
Adjective: tilt-up, titled, titleless Noun: tilt-a-whirl, tilt-top, tiltboard, tilter, tilting, tiltmeter Verb, transitive: uptilt	Adjective: nontitle, titled, titular Noun: subtitle, title-leaf, titleholder, undertitle Verb, transitive: entitle, mistitle, retitle, subtitle
History of the Word:
Late Middle English in the sense of fall or cause to fall, topple. It is perhaps related to the Old English tealt meaning unsteady, or perhaps of Scandinavian origin and related to the Norwegian tylten meaning unsteady and the Swedish tulta meaning totter. Middle English telte meaning tent is from the Old English teld.	Old English titul, reinforced by the Old French title, both of which are from the Latin titulus meaning inscription, title. The word originally denoted a placard or inscription placed on an object, giving information about it, hence a descriptive heading in a book or other composition.	Late Middle English from the Latin titulus. In medieval Latin it meant small stroke, accent.

Tilt

Title

Tittle

Jousting Renfair, 27 August 2005, by User:Pretzelpawsis is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

—

It’s a tilt.

The colourful title page of Mrs Beeton's 'Book of Household Management'.

Title page of “Household Management” courtesy of Wellcome Images under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

A black i and j with red dots above them

Tittles by User:Superm401 is based on the original by User:CrazyLegsKC, which is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part of Grammar:

Noun ¹, ²;
Verb ¹, intransitive & transitive ²

Plural for the noun: tilts
Gerund: tilting

Third person present verb: tilts
Past tense or past participle: tilted
Present participle: tilting

Adjective; Noun; Verb, transitive

Plural for the noun: title
Gerund: titling

Third person present verb: titles
Past tense or past participle: titled
Present participle: titling

Noun

Plural:

tittle
tittles (diacritical marks only)

Noun:
A sloping position or movement ¹

An upward or downward pivoting movement of a camera
An inclination or bias

[Aerial photography] The angle formed by the direction of aim of a camera and a perpendicular to the surface of the earth

[Short for tilt hammer] A heavy pivoted hammer used in forging, raised mechanically and allowed to drop on the metal being worked

[Historical] A combat for exercise or sport between two men on horseback with lances

A joust
[tilt at] An attempt at winning (something) or defeating (someone), especially in sports

A barrier introduced in the 14th century to prevent jousting collisions

A canopy or an awning for a boat, wagon, or cart ²

A verbal combat

A debate
A dispute

Verb, intransitive:
Move or cause to move into a sloping position or direction ¹

Change or cause to change in favor of one person or thing as opposed to another
[Historical; in jousting; tilt at] Thrust at with a lance or other weapon
[Archaic; tilt with] Engage in a contest with

[Of a camera] To move on its vertical axis

To incline in opinion, feeling, etc.

Lean

Verb, transitive:
Move or cause to move into a sloping position ¹

Move (a camera) in a vertical plane

To rush at or charge, as in a joust

To hold poised for attack, as a lance

To forge with a tilt hammer

To cover (a vehicle) with a canopy or an awning ²

Adjective:
Of or relating to a title

That decides a title

Noun:
The name of a book, composition, or other artistic work

[Usually as titles] A caption or credit in a movie or broadcast
A book, magazine, or newspaper considered as a publication

A name that describes someone’s position or job:

A word such as Senator or Dame that is used before someone’s name, or a form that is used instead of someone’s name, to indicate high social or official rank
A word such as Mrs. or Dr. that is used before someone’s name to indicate their profession or marital status
A descriptive or distinctive name that is earned or chosen

The position of being the champion of a major sports competition

[Law] A right or claim to the ownership of property or to a rank or throne

[In church use] A fixed sphere of work and source of income as a condition for ordination

A parish church in Rome under a cardinal

Verb, transitive:
[Usually be titled] Give a name to a book, composition, or other work

To furnish with a title

Designate by an appellation
Entitle

A tiny amount or part of something

Jot
Whit
Particle
Iota

[Archaic] A small diacritic mark, such as an accent, vowel mark, or dot over an i or j

Examples:

Noun:
It was the tilt of her head that caught Peter’s eye.

That coffee cup was on a tilt.

This new security camera I got pans and tilts from an app on my phone.

The paper’s tilt was toward the conservatives.

Watch out for the tilt. It comes down heavy, take your hand right off.

Technically, the act of two knights charging each other with lances is a tilt.

The tilt is a medieval rehearsal similar to a military exercise in which two riders charge each other with lances.

They say there’ll be a tilt this coming May.

It was a tilt at the championship.

Go for it, dude. Full tilt!

Verb, intransitive:
The floor tilted slightly.

The balance of industrial power tilted towards the workers.

He tilts at his prey.

The lonely hero tilting at the system.

I resolved never to tilt with a French lady in compliment.

The camera tilts downward for an overhead shot.

She’s tilting toward the other candidate this year.

The field tilts toward the river.

Verb, transitive:
He tilted his head to one side.

Tilt the camera up and then pull back.

She tilted the bowl towards me, showing that she had indeed eaten all her soup.

Johnny had a bad habit of tilting his chair back.

Refreshments,” said Bert meditatively, tilting the empty bottle.

On the mark, Sir Henry tilted towards his opponent, lowering his lance as he charged.

The warriors tilted with their spears and brandished them in the air.

Adjective:
It was the title story in a collection.

This was the title bout to determine who would be champion.

Noun:
Do you know the author or the title of the book?

We do not create separate new titles for each season of a TV-show.

The title page is an important part of the front matter.

The company publishes 400 titles a year.

Leese assumed the title of director general.

He will inherit the title of Duke of Marlborough.

You should use his title when you address the envelope.

Nata’s deserved the title of Best Restaurant of the Year.

Davis won the world title for the first time in 1981.

A local family had title to the property.

The buyer acquires a good title to the merchandise.

To be ordained as a cardinal, the church requires the priest have a title with a proper stipend to support him.

Since 1914, the suburbicarian diocese of Ostia has been assigned as an additional title of the Dean of the College of Cardinals.

Title IX is a clause in the 1972 Education Act stating that no one shall because of sex be denied the benefits of any educational program of activity that receives direct federal aid.

Verb, transitive:
I think the song was titled “You Rascal, You”.

He originally titled it Home From Mars, but he decided to go with Mars Attacks instead.

The rules have not been altered one jot or tittle since.

You know she doesn’t care a tittle what you do.

The dot atop an i or j is one example of a tittle.

“And what have they to offer thee which are worth the least tittle of that which she would have given thee?” (France).

Derivatives:

Adjective: tilt-up, titled, titleless
Noun: tilt-a-whirl, tilt-top, tiltboard, tilter, tilting, tiltmeter
Verb, transitive: uptilt

Adjective: nontitle, titled, titular
Noun: subtitle, title-leaf, titleholder, undertitle
Verb, transitive: entitle, mistitle, retitle, subtitle

History of the Word:

Late Middle English in the sense of fall or cause to fall, topple. It is perhaps related to the Old English tealt meaning unsteady, or perhaps of Scandinavian origin and related to the Norwegian tylten meaning unsteady and the Swedish tulta meaning totter.
Middle English telte meaning tent is from the Old English teld.

Old English titul, reinforced by the Old French title, both of which are from the Latin titulus meaning inscription, title.

The word originally denoted a placard or inscription placed on an object, giving information about it, hence a descriptive heading in a book or other composition.

Late Middle English from the Latin titulus. In medieval Latin it meant small stroke, accent.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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